Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has been asked to present to MPs Treasury’s guidelines on government procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, following recent allegations of corruption relating to awarded tenders.

The Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces have been implicated in alleged price inflation and the corrupt awarding of contracts.

The Standing Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Finance have called on Mboweni to respond to the allegations.

Standing Committee on Finance chairperson Joe Maswanganyi said the committees were alarmed by the various allegations and were expecting to be briefed on Treasury’s processes to ensure that a single procurement tender worth millions is divided into multiple small tenders to benefit many small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs). 
 
“…while the committees cannot dictate terms on how government should conduct procurement for the Covid-19 pandemic, they are expressing a concern in light of complaints about being excluded by many SMMEs,” said Maswangayi.
 
After the presentation from the Finance Minister and the National Treasury, the committees will determine if there is a need for a joint meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Health, provincial health committees and their respective departments of health.