INLSA

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Supply-chain management regulations which govern the procurement of goods by state institutions, widely considered to be the centre of fraud and corruption in government institutions, could come under review.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize told top government leaders – including MECs, heads of departments, municipal managers and mayors – that supply-chain management would be the subject of robust debates at the cabinet lekgotla, which opened in Durban on Wednesday.

“We cannot tolerate the image of the province being tainted… If we think there are weaknesses, we have to actually tighten the whole process and regulations,” said Mkhize.

Supply-chain management and the government tender systems have recently come under scrutiny, with calls that they should be reviewed with a view to tightening controls.

Public outcry has been triggered by the Manase probe into affairs of the eThekwini metro. It found that there was massive rigging of tenders and flouting of regulations. This resulted in the irregular expenditure of more than R2 billion in eThekwini alone.

This week, eThekwini municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole announced that he had moved the supply-chain management unit from the procurement and infrastructure cluster to the Treasury cluster.

Addressing officials at the first day of the KwaZulu-Natal cabinet lekgotla, Mkhize said supply-chain regulations were always reviewed. “This is because they are about ensuring fairness, competitiveness, transparency, value-for-money and quality of service.”

He said that such moves were informed by the government’s assessment of internal audits processes, the forensic reports, the criminal investigations done and court cases.

“If, after this assessment, we find something that is weak, that must be closed so that we can cut down on abuses and irregularities,” he said.

Mkhize said that the government did not want it to seem that the problem was with supply-chain officials only.

“Political heads must be seen to be watching what is going on… The issue of clean audits has to be championed by the premier, the MEC and mayor.” - The Mercury