OUTA flags suspected tender fraud in Services SETA contract

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has called for an investigation into a Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Services SETA) tender after identifying what it describes as serious discrepancies in the bid documents submitted by a successful bidder.

The investigation centres on tender PROC T630, advertised in July 2022 to appoint a panel of consultants to operationalise newly constructed skills centres.

OUTA obtained the bid documents through a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request in June 2026 and says its investigation uncovered contradictory claims about Resolutions Studio (Pty) Ltd's experience, as well as concerns about the independence and provenance of reference letters included in its bid.

Conflicting experience claims

According to OUTA, the tender required bidders to demonstrate at least five years of project-management experience.

In a letter dated 2 August 2022, Resolutions Studio reportedly claimed that it had successfully delivered skills-development projects for four SETAs over the preceding six years.

However, OUTA says a statutory declaration contained in the same bid stated that the company had been operating for only three years.

The organisation also found that Resolutions Studio registered on the Central Supplier Database on 7 April 2021, although it acknowledged that the registration date does not necessarily prove when the company began trading.

OUTA said it could not find publicly available information corroborating the company's claim that it had delivered projects for four SETAs over six years.

“This was not a minor administrative discrepancy,” OUTA senior project manager Rudie Heyneke said, arguing that the experience claimed by the bidder was directly relevant to whether it met the tender requirements.

OUTA wants Services SETA to explain how the experience claims were verified and why the conflicting information did not trigger further scrutiny.

Questions over reference letters

The watchdog has also raised concerns about several reference letters submitted in support of the bid.

OUTA said the letters were provided by Mark Phillip Roux, Dr George Chirwa and Thiru Mudaly, who were also listed as members of Resolutions Studio's proposed core project team.

The organisation believes the relationships should have been disclosed and taken into consideration during the evaluation of the references.

OUTA's examination of the electronic documents also allegedly found metadata indicating that Resolutions Studio director Ruqayya Dawood may have created or worked on files containing some of the reference letters.

The organisation said the provenance and authenticity of the documents should be independently investigated.

“The purpose of a reference is to provide independent confirmation of a bidder’s previous performance,” Heyneke said.

Previous Services SETA contract questioned

The bid also included a reference signed by Andile Nongogo, a former Services SETA chief executive and chief financial officer who later served as NSFAS chief executive.

The reference related to work performed by Falahmetrix Solutions (Pty) Ltd, another company associated with Dawood, according to OUTA.

The watchdog said the earlier Services SETA contract was subsequently examined by Werksmans Attorneys.

According to findings reviewed by OUTA, the original master service-level agreement was capped at approximately R47.4 million, while payments totalling about R94.6 million were ultimately processed.

OUTA believes the history of the contract should have prompted additional scrutiny before the reference was accepted as evidence of positive previous performance.

OUTA calls for investigation

OUTA said it intends to submit its report and supporting evidence to relevant authorities, including law-enforcement agencies.

It is also calling for the Services SETA administrator to investigate the tender award and consider supplier-restriction proceedings if any party is found to have submitted false or misleading information.

The organisation further wants the Auditor-General of South Africa to scrutinise tender PROC T630 and related expenditure.

OUTA also plans to approach Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training to investigate broader procurement relationships identified in its report.

It has raised concerns about the conduct of Mudaly, a chartered accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner who was included in the proposed project team and who, according to OUTA, certified documents relating to team members, including his own certificates.

OUTA stressed that any criminal, disciplinary or supplier-restriction proceedings must follow a fair and independent investigation.

“Money collected through the skills-development levy is intended to create opportunities and strengthen South Africa’s skills base,” Heyneke said.

He said failures in procurement controls ultimately affect young people, workers and employers who contribute to the skills-development levy.

OUTA is calling for the procurement trail to be fully examined and for anyone found responsible for wrongdoing to be held accountable.