Johannesburg – National Treasury has ended the emergency procurement process for Personal Protective Equipment and protective clothing, saying it’s back to business as usual for government suppliers.
Going forward, full details of companies who have been awarded tenders will also be published to increase transparency.
This comes as government is grappled with allegations of fraud in what was meant to be a quick process to ensure that South Africa had a steady supply of PPE and protective clothing during the pandemic.
No sooner had Treasury announced the Covid-19 budget, than thieves were already assembled at the door, waiting to steal, said Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.
Mboweni said this at a briefing along with Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane on Wednesday. They told the standing and select committees on finance regarding the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for Covid-19.
This followed reports of corruption in Covid-19 –related tenders.
Mogajane said the emergency procurement of PPEs and protective clothing had ended because demand and supply are no longer an issue.
“We have boosted local production of face shields, of masks. All of that is now in place after a few months of challenges that we had in terms of how companies in South Africa can begin to take advantage of the opportunity that is here,” Mogajane said.
He added that anti-corruption measures needed to be put in place, as well as outside-the-box thinking to ensure that procurement is “fraud-proof”.
