I have taken note of the observations made by the Auditor General, as a result of his observations, investigations were done and all the implicated officials are being taken through the disciplinary process as we speak.
I have instructed the ADG and his team to develop a plan to combat future occurances of this nature. This plan contains amongst others the following:
Demand & Acquisition Unit to verify that supplier have quoted according to specifications. If not an approved motivation to attached prior to appointment.
Demand & Acquisition Unit to test the validity of the motivation against the set criteria in the SCM policy
Suppliers who are unable to submit a valid tax certificate to be automatically disqualified. SCM officials to verify that suppliers are registered in the National Treasury central supplier database, and that their tax status is compliant
Demand & Acquisition Unit to provide and attach proof that various suppliers were approached and given opportunity but still it was not possible obtain the prescribed minimum number of quotations.
It is now a mandatory requirement as per National Treasury SCM Instruction note 4 A of 206/2017 to utilise service providers that are registered on the Central Supplier Database. Demand & Acquisition Unit to obtain quotations strictly from suppliers registered on the CSD.
An official in the Office of CFO to be assigned to review compliance with SCM prior to processing of orders or appointment of suppliers