R345 000 for cabling, R168 000 for servers, R145 000 for computers and R71 000 for laptops…

These are some of the exorbitant fees Madibeng municipality forked out every month for two years after the IT company Flame IT was awarded a tender in 2015.

According to a forensic report presented to the council, the monthly payment to Flame IT came to almost R2 million. During the two years, Madibeng paid Flame IT R85 million, and they were slapped with a further bill of R54 million last year because the municipality still uses the company’s equipment.

Among the ridiculous charges, Flame IT billed Madibeng R16.1 million for cabling, R15 million for personnel to look after the server, and R1.9 million for a website. The company charged the municipality over R100 000 per month for switches, R20 000 for “data mining and recovery”, and R387 000 for consultants and support personnel.

The forensic report found that the IT company inflated prices between 100% and 413%.

According to the forensic report, the investigation identified irregular transactions totalling R85 million. “Various other transactions require the assistance of the SAPS to quantify the values and determine responsibilities.”