At a seminar arranged by top law firm Adams & Adams, the Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela agreed with the sentiment expressed by a panel of professionals involved in various aspects of public procurement, that the challenges presented by the system and rules governing public procurement needed attention.

“Our Public Procurement Law Group was formed to assist public and private sector clients with the legal complexities associated with the public procurement process,” stated Michael Gwala, partner and co-head of the firm’s Public Procurement Group. “We are geared to assist public sector clients with the design and implementation of fair and sound processes, and at the same time provide advice and guidance to private sector clients to ensure they are compliant and competitive notwithstanding the tediousness of our procurement system.”

The seminar brought together lawyers from both the public and private sectors. Highlighted were the problems bedevilling the public procurement system including the inexplicable withdrawal of tenders, misunderstanding and misapplication of the applicable legislation, internal inconsistencies in approach to tender requirements, scope creep and escalating costs. This was confirmed by the Public Protector. “We have seen a number of violations of the procurement framework, including a failure to constitute Bid Adjudication Committees or having such committees infiltrated by people with certain intentions.”

She stated that her observations have been informed by the lessons learned from several investigations conducted by her office. She cited several investigation reports, including ‘Against the Rules’, which dealt with the South African Police Service office accommodation lease; ‘On the Point of Tenders’, which dealt with the awarding of tenders for the construction of roads in Limpopo; ‘It Can’t Be Right’, which focussed on the procurement irregularities at Midvaal Municipality; and ‘Yes We Made Mistakes’, which reported on a communications tender in the Western Cape.

“A comprehensive and united effort must be made by all the players in the public procurement arena, from both the public and private sectors, to develop a public procurement system that is better known for its positive results than its notorious irregularities,” stated Andrew Molver, partner at Adams & Adams. “The Public Protector plays a vital role in looking at maladministration and misconduct around public procurement, but disproportionate reliance on her office in this regard may eventually overload it. It is in the public and private sectors’ best interests to take pre-emptive steps to better manage the public procurement process.”

Adams & Adams most recently assisted the Public Protector  in the matter with regards the DA and SABC, in respect of the party’s enforcement of the SABC report on acting SABC CEO, Hloudi Motseoneng.