National Treasury releases list of Covid-19 tenders

The National Treasury has made public the list of all companies that secured tenders for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPEs), among other items and the amounts spent by each department. File picture: Ayanda Ndamane African News Agency (ANA)

The National Treasury has made public the list of all companies that secured tenders for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPEs), among other items and the amounts spent by each department. File picture: Ayanda Ndamane African News Agency (ANA)

Published Aug 27, 2020

Share

Johannesburg – Public scrutiny of Covid-19 tenders is set to increase after the government, in order to address corruption allegations, opened up its books on all companies that secured tenders during the pandemic.

The National Treasury has published all Covid-19 tender expenditures by the government and state entities as reports on the large scale looting of relief funds meant to address the pandemic continue to grow.

On Wednesday, the Treasury made public the list of all companies that had secured tenders for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPEs), among other items, and the amounts spent by each department.

The Gauteng provincial health department, which has been at the heart of Covid-19 corruption allegations, spent more than R2 billion on Covid-19 related procurement since the declaration of State of Disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

While the department listed the companies that secured tenders and the prices, its database did not have details on the services which were rendered by the companies, as listed by other departments.

The Basic Education Department spent R819 633 565, of which around R600 million was spent on water tanks for schools, while R108 million was used to rent mobile toilets through the Mvula Trust.

More than R38 million was spent by the department on the procurement of face masks for provinces, with Spot on Trading securing the lion’s share at R19.5 milllion.

The Home Affairs Department spent R20 243 898 on PPEs, with Matema Trading securing the biggest contract for the department at R1 036 033 for the supply of hand sanitizers at R113 per 500ml bottle.

The Department of Agriculture, land Reform and Rural Development spent R43 132 282, with 53% of it spent of PPEs for farmers, with Black Dot securing a R11 500 000 tender for the supply of 400 000 surgical face masks.

According to Public Enterprises director general Kgathatso Tlhakudi, that department had spent R281 930 on PPEs, which was 28% of its R1 million budget for PPE procurement.

The Communications and Digital Technology Department spent R1 246 163, with more than R800 000 going towards contracts to decontaminate its Pretoria offices.

The Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Department spent R11 million of its R21 655 875 total Covid-19 expenditure on video conferencing, with R and N AV Innovations securing the lucrative contract.

Earlier this month, Ramaphosa appointed a ministerial task team led by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in a bid to tackle Covid-19 tender corruption, and the lists of the companies are set to be combed by the task team.

Political Bureau