Tender rules revamp welcomed

Cape Town - The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and the State-Owned Enterprise Procurement Forum (SOEPF) on Friday welcomed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's announcement on tender processes.

Gordhan's announcement on Tuesday that the Treasury would develop a mechanism to monitor tender processes confirmed the government's commitment to eroding tender irregularities, they said in a joint statement.

One of the key strategic government initiatives, Programme 5: Financial Accounting and Reporting, is the National Treasury's programme of reforming supply chain and enforcing compliance within government. It seeks to counter fraud and corruption.

"Government is moving in the right direction with trying to prevent tender fraud and CIPS, as the recognised professional body for supply chain management for National Treasury, is eager to see when these steps will start effectively combating fraud and corruption," they said.

CIPS operates in 150 countries. CIPS Southern Africa acts as a conduit for the benchmark of good practice within the region, and by doing so, building a stronger understanding of the role and value of procurement.

It has worked closely with SOEPF since July 2010 to develop procurement and supply chain personnel.

SOEPF chairperson Fantas Mobu, who is also Eskom's tactical procurement general manager, said procurement practitioners put their lives in the front line every day to make sure there was running water, electricity, roads, airports and more, yet there was perpetual negative scrutiny.

SOEPF was established in 2004 as a voluntary forum of procurement and supply chain management heads of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to enable the sharing of best practice in supply chain management.

An example was that under the leadership of SA Revenue Service procurement, SOEs collaborate on a project which would see all SOE suppliers vetted and would ensure that the state does not enter into a relationship or contract with companies and directors involved in fraud and corruption.

Key strategic objectives of SOEPF include promoting adherence to the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and the advising of SOEs on procurement policies and procedures.

SOEPF recognised that a key challenge in South Africa within government and SOEs remains the lack of a sufficiently skilled and capable workforce, especially within the procurement and supply chain management environment.

SOEPF and CIPS are working together to ensure that procurement and supply chain officials in any state entity would be licensed to practice and would sign and abide by the code of ethics governed by CIPS.

"The procurement profession is currently under the spotlight and professional procurement needs to deliver more than just cost savings - it needs to ensure stronger governance, greater sustainability, increased security of supply and increased value."

"This would not be possible without a skilled and qualified workforce, or in other words a licence to practise," said CIPS MD André Coetzee.