The job has never spent more than R30m allegedly, but now clearly being done for five years, in a year for R128m.
There are potential “loot” and corruption concerns within the North Western Education Department, as it signed a new matriculation paper printing job, which cost four times last year.
The department has allegedly spent more than R28 million to print its question papers, but now appointed a new provider Labon Ultron DSV Consortium for services. According to that provider, A City press Insider is charging R128 million per year for service.
The department has disputed the amount, but it was found that the actual amount is more than R100 million. This justified the cost by saying that it included not only printing but also other logistics such as storage and distribution.
Nevertheless, internal sources insisted that these other services were included in a fraction of the price in the previous deal. They smell a rat and claim that “there is a lot of looting using the printing of matriculation question papers”.
A source said, “The material used to print the question papers is common, which is found in any printing company. We do not use any particular material, but the money (the department is going to pay) is very high,” a source said.
Why don’t they use government printers?
According to the National Education Department, eight of the nine provinces including North West have stopped using the government’s printing works (GPW) to print their matriculation paper amidst safety concerns.
“Your current structure lacks the ability to print safe question papers for all nine provincial in GPW
Education Department. This capacity can be extended over time, but the reality is that it is also a big risk to be printed for all national question papers at one place of the country, ”the department said earlier.
“Another important factor is that the Provincial Education Department (PED) prefers in-house printing features, which allows them to manage the process more closely. Therefore, printing in Pretoria in GPW
Most Peds are not the most convenient arrangement. ,
And while the leaks are reportedly reduced, the cost of printing, now in private hands, has increased.
Also read: Hawks matric results make great success in ‘Breach’ – a detained
Last year, it was reported that R1 billion costs more than R1 billion to more than R3.6 billion.
The National Education Department later clarified that this R3.6 billion included the printing and distribution of documents, moderation, printing, printing, transport, security, marking and markers, maintenance of the system and the statements of consequences.
“The estimated cost for printing and packing of question papers for all candidates who write the exam of October/November is R220 million, and this is a part of R3.6 billion quotes,” Department explained,
Now read: See: Matric results for just R100? Outrage over the ‘leak’ of the mark