Seta paid R166 for lanyard, says Outa
The Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) allegedly paid R214 for an exam pad‚ R166.50 for a lanyard and R167 for a flash drive.
These are some of the things the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) claimed on Thursday to have uncovered in the damning evidence it received‚ which allegedly shows gross wasteful and irregular expenditure at the Services Seta.
Outa’s special projects portfolio manager‚ Dominique Msibi‚ claims the Seta bought:
20‚000 exam pads at R214 each;
30‚000 lanyards at R166.50 each; and
30‚000 flash drives at R167 each.
“A quick online search will reveal that basic flash drives can be bought for as little as R59 and lanyards for as little as R3‚” Msibi said.
“It is not known on what basis and for whom these items were purchased.”
Outa said the invoices for the items were all paid to the same supplier.
“It also concerns us that despite the income of R28.9m on this deal alone‚ the company in question does not have a VAT number and no VAT is charged on each invoice‚” Msibi said.
Outa also found in its preliminary investigations that the necessary tender procedures had not been followed.
It will report the information to the auditor-general, the SA Revenue Service and the Financial Intelligence Centre.
The Services Seta did not respond to a request for comment. –