In a scene that typified the absurd theatre that is South African politics, the Construction Education & Training Authority (Ceta) rolled out the red carpet at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand in June 2022 to launch a groundbreaking biometric student verification system that did not exist.
Guests arrived at the Gallagher Grill Auditorium for a full breakfast, speeches and branded gifts, followed by a buffet lunch, to launch the system Ceta claimed would curb fraud in its training programmes.
The venue costs R42,265 a day, with an additional R21,132 charge to set it up.
However, beneath the photo ops and posturing lay the sobering truth: the system that was being celebrated was little more than a concept at that stage.
The Sunday Times has previously reported that despite warnings from the auditor-general (AG) and internal whistleblowers, Ceta forged ahead with monthly payments to Coinvest, a company meant to administer the system, to the tune of more than R6m. The Sunday Times has seen invoices confirming these payments were made between March 2022 and July 2023, for a service that was never operational.
An atmosphere of celebration filled the room and photographs from the event showed guests dressed to the nines, mingling and smiling. The backdrop? Elegant centrepieces, and the promise of innovation.
According to invoices seen by the Sunday Times, the décor and promotional materials were no small investment, and included:
- pull-up banners, tear-drop flags, gazebos and branded table cloths at a cost of R240,761.13; and
- executive notebooks, pens, gift sets and writing pads that came to R494,785.93.
The total payment was R735,547.06, just for promotional materials and branding, all for a system that “is not in operational use,” according to the AG’s findings.
That is without accounting for catering and pre-launch drinks, which Gallagher Convention Centre offers at R500 per person for buffet meals and R52 per person for welcome drinks. If Ceta covered lunch for 200 guests, the catering costs would have been more than R110,000.
I cannot speak about it because it has nothing to do with me any more
— Artwell Makleve, former director of Coinvest
In attendance was Artwell Makleve, a former director of Coinvest, of one of the companies awarded the contract to administer the system. He was photographed at the event and gave a speech from the podium.
However, when the Sunday Times contacted him for comment, Makleve was quick to distance himself from the event: “I am not part of Coinvest ... I represented a business, not myself. I never attempted to represent myself,” he said. “I cannot speak about it because it has nothing to do with me any more.”
Pressed about his speech, he said: “It’s a speech. Everything is on record. It’s on the video recorded ... What kind of question is that?”
But Makleve confirmed that he attended as the MD of Coinvest at thetime and that he spoke on behalf of the business.
The biometric system was intended to verify student attendance using scanners linked to stipend payments, a tech-savvy approach to tackling fraudulent learner enrolment.
Ceta’s former IT manager, Bongani Sibanyoni, previously told the Sunday Times: “There was never a biometric system that was deployed in the Ceta IT infrastructure that I was responsible for. I can categorically confirm that Ceta did not have any such functioning system ... Until I was dismissed in August 2023.”
Ceta did not comment.
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