We refer to the statement issued by Valor IT Chairperson Josias Molele on 8 February 2011 where he said Minister Rob Davies was not telling the truth about the company.
As the department we have made it clear before and in our statement of 4 February 2011 that the terms on which we are prepared to settle do not include payment of any monies to Valor IT in respect of the Electronic Content Management (ECM) contract. Therefore, we will leave the matter for the court to make a final determination.
Having read the statement by Mr Molele, we will not respond to the allegations he made other than to point out the following:
Following the direction by the presiding judge, the respective legal teams agreed to make an attempt in good faith to settle the matter. However, it was made clear right at the outset by the legal team that whatever terms and conditions to be negotiated between the two legal teams had to be presented to the Director-General and the Minister for consideration.
On 25 November 2010, both Director-General and Minister, as respondents in the matter, were not in court and no consultation whatsoever took place with them on that day in regard to ‘a settlement’. The only mandate that was given to the legal team on that day was for them to attend court for the purposes of opposing the urgent application brought by Valor IT.
The allegation by Valor IT to the effect that a deed of settlement was reached is devoid of any truth. If Valor IT indeed has a valid deed of settlement in their possession, they should approach the appropriate court to enforce it. Any person with a valid deed of settlement would appreciate the remedies available to them in law.
We have stated before that the legal team did enter into negotiations regarding possible terms and conditions upon which a settlement could be based, which resulted in the Valor IT proposing a written draft deed of settlement for consideration by the respondents, and this draft was not presented on 25 November 2010.
The draft deed of settlement was considered by the legal team and presented to the Director-General and Minister in December 2010. The Director-General and Minister did not approve the proposed terms and conditions contained in the draft deed of settlement presented and Valor IT was advised accordingly. The consequence of this is therefore obvious. No settlement was reached on 25 November 2010, or any day thereafter. Valor IT is deliberately misleading on this.
It is interesting that Mr Molele says the note of the presiding judge in the court file said “the matter is closed and settled”. It will be noted that Valor IT is really being opportunistic and disingenuous in this regard. The fact is that the judge’s note was made on 30 November 2010 and said “By 13h00 the parties have not brought the settlement to chambers noted that matter is settled”. We are yet to see a settlement that is not based on any deed of settlement that is duly signed by persons that have authority to sign such agreement. The rules of the court are very clear on matters of settlement.
It is further puzzling that Mr Molele states that the “Auditor-General was not cited as a party to the matter in court” and thus has no role, but then turns to say a settlement did not require authorisation by the Director-General and the Minister who are the respondents cited in the matter. This is a very selective approach to matters by Valor IT. The fact is that any deed of settlement would have been authorised by the Director-General and Minister, and in this case, it was not.
As stated before, we would like these matters to be determined in a court process. The public will note that there are many legal disputes reported in the media that arise directly from the ECM tender, and none of them have anything to do with the dti or Company Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO). It is clear that the matters relating to the ECM tender are more complex than we thought.
There is absolutely no point for us to fight in the media about whether or not a settlement was reached. All that needs to happen is for Mr Molele to produce proof of such settlement and approach a court to enforce it.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Moloantoa Medupe
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
