Sunday Times reports that more than R13m has allegedly been siphoned out of the embattled Construction Education & Training Authority (Ceta) through two contracts meant to provide and administer a biometric system designed to combat a fraudulent learner enrolment in training programmes.
At least R6m of this was paid by Ceta to joint venture EZG Vest and Coinvest Africa to administer the system, despite a warning by the auditor-general (AG) and an internal whistleblower that there were irregularities in the appointment process. The other R7.1m was paid to Grayson Reed, a company appointed by Ceta in 2018 to provide the system, which included biometric scanners and a portal to keep track of learners' attendance and automatically link it to payment of stipends. The biometric system was meant to verify the identity of learners and ensure that only registered individuals participated in Ceta-funded training programmes. Despite the system never being operational, Ceta, under CEO Malusi Shezi, proceeded to make monthly payments to the joint venture, essentially for operating a nonexistent system, between March 2022 and July 2023 as part of a R50m contract awarded to the two companies in 2021. Ceta’s former IT manager, Bongani Sibanyoni, whose employment was terminated and who is now challenging his dismissal in the Labour Court, advised the system was never delivered.
- Read the full original of the comprehensive report in the above regard by Sabelo Skiti at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
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