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The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) is calling for the public adjudication of tenders. This is necessitated by the allegations of fraud and corruption that seem to be prevailing in the awarding of tenders, particularly in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
The committee believes that it is well and good to investigate the cases where fraud and corruption were suspected, however, it is of the view that transparency should be at the onset of the tender process. This is why a public adjudication of the tender process becomes necessary, as it will allow transparency from the beginning.
 
Scopa has noted that the emergency deviation process, which was allowed and necessary in order to expedite procurement of goods and services for the pandemic, has been muddled with fraud and corruption.
 
The committee is aware that the normal procurement processes require the creation of three bid committees, namely the specification committee, the evaluation committee, and the adjudication committee. It is for this reason that the committee believes that moving forward, for purposes of compliance and to minimise unethical and corrupt practices, the open tender framework as outlined in regulations and Note 3 of 2016/17 of the National Treasury must be applied. This will ensure transparency and good governance with regard to emergency procurement. The process of deviations must revert back to the normal processes.
 
Scopa supports the efficiency of government institutions and the reduction of fraud and wastage of public finances to ensure better service delivery. The Public Finance Management Act requires that the procurement system must be fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. This is why Scopa is calling for the return to normal processes of procurement.

Issued by The Chairperson of Scopa, Mkhuleko Hlengwa