”Give me the facts, and I will twist them the way I want, to suit my argument,” said Winston Churchill.
Churchill, an inspirational British statesman, writer, and orator, who together with US President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, led the allied armies to victory during the Second World War, deliberately manipulated situations to gain advantage during the fighting.
MOTIVATED REASONING
So why to this day do people sometimes prefer to twist the facts, a phenomenon called “motivated reasoning” by psychologists.
They do so to protect their own image, or simply because they are being motivated or fed skewed versions of events, sometimes due to personal biases by the so-called “credible insiders who spoke ... on the condition of anonymity”, or a desire to fit information into their existing beliefs to support a certain narrative.
The Star, in a story headlined “ACSA execs accused of misconduct, nepotism (19 December 2024)”, has been misled by their sources who rearranged facts to deceive, malign, and slander me by publishing arguments that seem plausible, but are actually fallacious and misleading.
This is nothing but sophistry at its best to manipulate situations by using words such as “misconduct, nepotism embroiled, impropriety, irregular behaviour”.
SMART SECURITY PROCUREMENT
Here is the chronology of the real facts:
· In August 2023, the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) published a request for information (RFI) for the replacement of detection equipment and smart detection and automated lanes solutions at all ACSA Airports;
· In November 2023, ACSA advertised a restricted bid to all companies that responded to the RFI, the bid closed in February 2024;
· The bid failed following an evaluation by an independent bid evaluation team and was cancelled by the national bid adjudicating committee chaired by the company’s chief financial officer;
· The bid was then re-advertised in November 2024 and will close in January 2025;
· The procurement processes are managed and controlled by supply chain management with clear policies and procedures contrary to the allegations;
· I and my colleague Peter Sibande have no control or control of the tender process and adjudication;
· We could not have interfered with the bid that was advertised almost two months after we visited Europe on another security -elated business;
· The purpose of the trip was to discuss aviation security matters related to the safety and security of passengers. The trip had nothing to do with smart security bidders.
NEPOTISM
The Oxford Dictionary defines nepotism as “the practice among those with power or influence favouring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs”.
ACSA’s recruitment policies are uniformly applied to all candidates, ensuring no favouritism or nepotism.
Lt Gen (Ret) Moeketsi Sempe and Ms Caroline Naidoo were appointed on merit following a thorough recruitment process and because of their extensive professional experience in the security sector. For example, Sempe holds various qualifications, including a National Diploma, BTech, and MTech in Policing.
Naidoo holds a valid police clearance certificate and Top Secret Clearance from the State Security Agency (SSA), underscoring her integrity and impeccable professional record.
Suggestions that they did not meet the qualifications for the roles they played are false and an affront to their distinguished careers. Baseless accusations linking Naidoo to criminal charges are categorically untrue.
“CULTURE OF BULLYING”
ACSA’s strong focus on clean and ethical governance may be why some label policies and processes as “bullying”. ACSA has clear policies for lodging grievances for employees who are aggrieved, those who run to journalists without using and exhausting internal mechanisms and policies, cannot have legitimate claims.
Claims of a “culture of bullying”, from anonymous sources, may be linked to people who were found breaking ACSA policies, particularly in procurement.
I am employed as a Group Executive on contract for five years, following policies approved by the human relations department for the extension of retirement age from 60 to 65 only for executives on contract as a concession for converting permanent positions to contract positions. I am in charge of compliance and enforcement, which has led to disciplinary action and dismissals at all levels of the organisation.
I have investigated irregularities and corruption, sometimes, involving senior staff. ACSA is currently undertaking various investigations, including, reviewing some irregular payments made to some security service providers, and will take disciplinary action if necessary.
SITA
When I was contracted to SITA, there was a burglary in which three laptops and other technology equipment were stolen. One of the stolen laptops belonged to a programme manager who coordinated all procurement projects at SITA. This resulted in an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit following a government proclamation.
Lastly, a case related to an R100 million contract between SITA and my company, iFirm, has been dealt with in court and no corruption was found.
Transient and illusory falsehood presented as the truth always collapses and the truth and accountability always triumph.
The real truth is that there are several investigations into procurement irregularities and the individuals involved while we pursue a clean audit.
The story that ACSA executives were involved in misconduct and nepotism twisted the truth by “credible insiders who spoke… on the condition of anonymity” so that some people can evade responsibility by misrepresenting what really happened and is happening at ACSA.
General Mzwandile Petros is Group Executive Enterprise Security and Compliance at ACSA.