The President of South Africa Cyrille of Ramaphosa allowed new investigation into the lawfulness of the contract of the Ministry of water with the German software firm SAP, referring to allegations that public money was spent illegally.
The study, conducted by a special investigative unit of South Africa, appeared after the anti-corruption Agency in the country said that in March it conducted its own study on the deal of the Ministry of water resources with SAP in the amount of 671 million Rand ($ 44 million), Reuters reports.
SAP is one of the few foreign companies that have suffered reputational damage in South Africa, after they were involved in corruption scandals during the reign of Jacob Zuma.
Ramaphosa started fighting corruption after leaving Zuma in February, and several investigations in relation to public and private companies moved forward.
SAP stated that the company is aware of a contract that will be reviewed by the investigative unit and that SAP is reviewing all its public sector work in South Africa starting in 2010.
“If we identify any issues of concern, we will resolve the issues. SAP continues to cooperate with us and South African authorities in its ongoing investigations,” the statement said.
SAP said that in October last year, the U.S. Department of justice and the U.S. securities and exchange Commission opened an investigation into the company under the U.S. foreign corruption Act (FCPA) relating to South Africa.
The President of South Africa said that the investigation unit would consider allegations that SAP’s work for the Department of water and sanitation “was not fair, competitive, transparent, fair or cost-effective and that legislation, guidelines or policies had been violated”.
Investigative unit, which reports directly to Ramaphosa will seek to establish that he violated employees of the water Department and / or staff SAP any laws, and will focus on the period from January 2015 to present.
The German company for business software development in March admitted that it paid more than $ 9 million to intermediary companies controlled by the Gupta family, friends of ex-President Zum, concerning transactions with state-owned firms in South Africa Eskom and Transnet.
Gupta and Zuma’s family deny wrongdoing. Their relationship is one of the main areas in which the focus is on the ongoing study of corruption in the government of South Africa.
SAP did not mention a contract with the Ministry of water management when it admitted offences under the Eskom and Transnet transactions.
An earlier investigation into the contract with the water division was initiated by an authorized public defender of South Africa after the Committee against corruption received an anonymous letter indicating violations in how the contract was negotiated.
Among the allegations contained in the letter was that the contract was unnecessary as the existing licenses of the Ministry of water management with SAP covered the same services. SAP declined to comment on the charges when you call to Reuters in March.
