The procurement system has become a tool of wealth for the few, deepening the enrichment of apartheid or pre-democracy beneficiaries; hiding behind malleable blacks who are fronting or holding encumbered ownership with little or no control of management and operations or skills transfer. It is time to remove human hands from the process.
Laws governing procurement in South Africa need a massive overhaul. Now, legislation that is being introduced presents an opportunity to revolutionise the current regime. This is in spite of the principles of cost-effectiveness, fairness, transparency, equity and competitiveness, which are designed to advance economic development, poverty eradication, job creation, redress of imbalances of the past per the Constitution of SA, and the entrance of new role players and SMMEs into the mainstream economy.
But this article is not about the current procurement probes: it is about future government procurement processes, in line with the Draft Procurement Bill (February 2020) repealing the existing framework.
Next to Covid-19, the biggest pandemic confronting our society, including all political parties, churches, businesses and communities, is betrayal manifesting as endemic corruption, greed, jealousy, desperation and the introduction of money into our body politic. Having said this, one must be vigilant against unsubstantiated…
