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21 AUGUST 2007

BRIEFING NOTES ON THE TELEPHONE INTERPRETING SERVICE FOR SOUTH AFRICA (TISSA) PROJECT TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE. 21 AUGUST 2007. 1. INTRODUCTION. Background to the challenges facing TISSA Non-delivery by the consortium Fraudulent activities Poor financial management and reporting

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21 AUGUST 2007

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  1. BRIEFING NOTES ON THE TELEPHONE INTERPRETING SERVICE FOR SOUTH AFRICA (TISSA) PROJECT TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE 21 AUGUST 2007

  2. 1. INTRODUCTION Background to the challenges facing TISSA • Non-delivery by the consortium • Fraudulent activities • Poor financial management and reporting • Under-utilisation of TISSA by stakeholders

  3. 2. LITIGATION AND OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT • After suspension, Golola made an urgent application for that suspension to be set aside • DAC legal team advised an out of court settlement due to technicalities which was signed by both parties • An arbitration was imminent if parties did not agree on way forward

  4. 3. OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO DAC • Dismiss the Consortium on grounds of lack of delivery thus prolonging the settlement process with further legal implications and a risk to discontinue TISSA ; OR • Compel the consortium to resolve problems raised by the Gcabashe Forensic Audit Report and develop a contract that looked after the interests of DAC and of the TISSA service; this would have punished those who performed their duties relatively well putting DAC at risk for more legal battles; OR • Offer the opportunity to a BEE company after a competitive bid leading to a high risk of litigation again involving further cost to DAC.

  5. 4. SUMMARY • Option 2 was recommended for approval i.e to compel the consortium to resolve problems raised by the Gcabashe Audit Report; thus • Risk management would be the responsibility of the consortium’s • Management of TISSA would have an in-built accountability mechanism • There would be no additional financial implications for DAC • TISSA’s governance structure would serve the interests of both DAC as a sponsor and TISSA as a service • Financing TISSA would be simplified and reporting would be timeous • Stakeholders would receive continuous service • Project success would be guaranteed

  6. 5. WAY FORWARD After expiration of contract, DAC thought to appoint new service provider in the interest of continuity of TISSA *Decision to go that route is proving difficult because: • All sites installed since project’s inception consistently and persistently registered low call volumes • The consortium tasked with management of the operation of TISSA could not raise the call volumes for the whole time the service was rendered • Court battles not being over, it would be costly to involve a new service provider • At this stage, It would be prudent to conduct an evaluation to inform the decision whether to continue TISSA or not

  7. 6. CONCLUSION • From the foregoing, we conclude that DAC must be circumspect about any decision that might be taken regarding TISSA before an evaluation of the project is conducted. • Presently therefore, the Department wishes to conduct an evaluation of the TISSA project. • It would be the Department’s prerogative to inform all stakeholders of the outcome.

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