Paarl Media turned down IEBC's second invite to ballots tender

Paarl Media, owned by US entertainment giant Naspers,photo:courtesy

A South African printing firm locked out of the ballot printing tender now claims it declined a second invite from the electoral agency.

Paarl Media, owned by US entertainment giant Naspers, said in a statement, that it opted not to participate in any further tendering process even after successfully appealing the award before the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission was found to have irregularly awarded the printing tender last October, before it was ordered to restart the procurement process last month.

The electoral body opted to invite firms to a restricted bidding process last month after it became apparent that ballot papers could not be delivered in time before the August polls had the supplier been identified through an open and competitive exercise.

"Paarl Media has since then chosen not to participate any further and has declined to submit a bid in relation to the restricted tender for ballots that was released in May 2017," the firm said.