THE legality of a multi-million tender for the South African Weather Service (Saws) has come under scrutiny after it was found to be questionable over several alleged unlawful extensions from 2017 until 2024.

This is according to a legal opinion seen by the Cape Times, which was solicited by the Saws board “on the entire process relating to the procurement of the High-Performance Computer (HPC) system and identify any irregularities and possible remedies available to the Consultant, as the accounting authority of SAWS”.

The legal opinion dated August 22, 2024 details that the extensions of the tender were allegedly unlawful and cost Saws millions, some 149% more than the original contract price.

According to the document, Saws has been using its current HPC system supplied by the same company from 2014 to date. Although the initial Supplier Agreement was for a period of 36 months, it was varied and extended several times from 2017 until 2024.

“The Main Supplier Agreement and addendums thereto were not procured/ concluded through the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) as required by both the State Information Technology Agency Act, and SAWS SCM Policy. In varying and extending the Main Supplier Agreement, SAWS defied its SCM Policy," the opinion stated.

According to the lawyers, there were several alleged contraventions of the Constitution as it relates to section 217, which aims to eliminate fraud and corruption in a public tender process and to secure goods and services at the best price in the market.

“From the egregious irregularities committed during the bid processes of tenders SAWS 270/21, 300/22, 319/22. The advertisement and re-advertisements of SAWS 270/21, 300/22 and 319/22, it would appear that the re-advertisement of SAWS 270/21 was because of a mistake in the preferential points system employed by the Bid Evaluation Committee. It would further seem like SAWS 300/22 and 319/22 were merely cancelled because there was no compliance or that no responsive bids were received.

“In our previous opinion dated 19 June 2024, we opined and concluded that all the extensions of the HPC contract (and intended extension) were unlawful and in contravention of section 217 of the Constitution. We further established that (the service provider) was a key participant in the malfeasance and unlawfulness that tainted the HPC tender variation and extensions.

“The Main Supplier Agreement was for an amount of R37 348 444.72. As a result of the unlawful variation and extensions of the Main Supplier Agreement, SAWS incurred approximately R48 million which is 149% more than the original contract price Eclipse was awarded,” the legal opinion further read.

In response to the allegations, Saws said the tender was re-advertised to ensure compliance with "strict" requirements.

“For example, one of the cancellations was due to discrepancies that were discovered in the procurement process. After consulting the National Treasury, the advice received was that that particular tender should be cancelled. With regard to another cancellation, some of the bidders met the technical requirements, but did not comply with the pricing specification. Therefore, the bid was regarded as non-responsive and subsequently expired. The last time the bid was advertised was on 18 December 2024. It closed on 31 January 2025. Received bids are currently being evaluated," said Saws spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe.

He said the extensions were necessitated by the need for uninterrupted support and maintenance services for the current HPC as the HPC is integral to the work of the SAWS and its legislated mandate.

Cape Times