Pretoria - The State Information Technology Agency (Sita) says In2IT Technologies has commenced work after a legal battle over a SAPS tender.
Sita says the long-standing battle for the multimillion-rand tender by IT companies Gijima and In2IT Technologies over maintenance and support of PBX systems used by SAPS, did not hamper service delivery.
Last week, Gijima lost the SAPS tender to In2IT Technologies.
In2IT had appealed the tender which was awarded to Gijima by the high court after the contract had initially been awarded to In2IT by Sita in January 2021.
Unhappy with the decision, in March 2021, Gijima and its partner, Advanced Voice Systems (AVS), approached the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to appeal Sita’s decision and the court ruled in their favour.
In2IT also sought leave to appeal against the order.
SITA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the litigation did not have any impact on service delivery, and the appointed service provider, In2It, has now started fulfilling its duties.
During court proceedings, Gijima and AVS accused In2IT of deceiving SITA by purposefully providing a price that was below market value and left out some essential services.
Gijima’s bid price had been set at R160m, while In2IT set their price at just over R88m.
However, speaking to IOL, Tlali said the judgment against Gijima ensured that public resources were used sparingly and in a cost-effective manner.
“This will ensure that fair and transparent process is followed to the latter, noting that all our clients, and SAPS in this instance, receives the best possible services and solutions to enable them to extract maximum value given the role they play in service delivery,” he said.
Tlali said they were not anticipating another appeal from Gijima but are aware that company still has a right to appeal.
“Gijima has every right to approach any higher court to apply for leave to appeal,” he said.
IOL