Acsa’s Board of Directors is to appoint an independent company to investigate reported procurement irregularities.
Additionally, Acsa has asked the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) to examine these reports.
“The AGSA has received a request from Acsa. In line with our existing processes, we will scrutinise these matters during the 2024-25 financial year's annual regularity audit of the entity,” AGSA confirmed with Travel News.
“Should there be any material findings discovered during that regularity audit, these will be reported in the audit report. The audit report will be made public through the normal annual report processes.”
According to Acsa, the decision follows reports that there were suspected irregularities in the procurement process to appoint independent bid evaluators and additional resources to support Acsa’s Supply Chain Management Department.
The AGSA audit will be of Acsa’s most recent financial results for the year 2024/25. During the financial year, Acsa suspended its Chief Information Officer following a lawsuit by a tender bidder and an internal investigation that found the SOE’s procurement processes to be irregular in relation to a biometric and digital identity technology project, as reported by Travel News.
In Acsa’s financial results for the previous financial year, 2023/24, the AGSA found R102 million in irregular expenditure – expenditure that did not follow the correct financial regulations such as not following proper tender processes, as reported by Travel News. The AGSA found that one of Acsa’s main reasons for irregular expenditure was its procurement processes.
