TimesLive reports that MPs are none the wiser as to how three senior officials in the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) could have been involved in the awarding of a R225m IT contract — and then formed a company that benefited from the deal.

The OCJ failed to provide information beyond what was already in the public domain, citing pending investigations. “We are not saying so because we want to hide anything, it’s also based on legal advice,” secretary-general of the OCJ, Memme Sejosengwe, told parliament’s portfolio committee on justice on Tuesday. She said internal investigations and investigations by law-enforcement agencies were ongoing, which made it difficult for her office to provide further information as this could affect the investigations. She, however, confirmed to MPs that former CFO Casper Coetzer, former spokesperson and chief director of court administration Nathi Mncube and former case management director Yvonne van Niekerk’s “fingerprints were all over the Thomson Reuters deal”. All three played a role in the awarding of the contract to Thomson Reuters, from bid specifications to bid evaluation as well as in the bid adjudication committee as it was part of their official duties. This included the negotiation process for pricing relating to the contract, she said. “I did not suspect that there was anything untoward happening. I had no reason to suspect anything because I did not find anything that in my view would have given reason to believe that they were doing anything untoward. Obviously it’s human nature. What happens happened,” Sejosengwe remarked.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andisiwe Makinana at TimesLive

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