DA Limpopo calls for removal of ‘unreliable and untrustworthy’ PPE suppliers
The party says these unreliable suppliers are more of threat now as the province is combating Covid-19.
Industrial giant 3M reported higher quarterly profits as it works to ramp up medical masks amid surging demand for personal protective equipment due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP/Alex Edelman
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo has called for the removal of “unreliable and untrustworthy suppliers” of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the provincial database.
DA MPL Risham Maharaj said the party was deeply concerned about the “credibility and reliability” of the suppliers PPE on the province’s database.
Maharaj said this concern cames after Limpopo education MEC Polly Boshielo stated that the failure of suppliers to provide PPE had contributed to the province’s unpreparedness to reopen schools on Monday, 1 June.
“In her briefing on the state of readiness to reopen schools, MEC Boshielo mentioned that five of the six suppliers sourced from the databases of the department of Treasury and Limpopo economic development, environment and tourism (LEDET) had failed to deliver PPEs. The contracts had to be abandoned and restart the process to find new suppliers. It is unclear if there was any financial loss incurred by the department of education and if this will affect their ability to reopen on 8 June.
“This is of great concern because it is expected that PPE suppliers on the provincial database are registered in the Central Supplier Database (CSD) in line with National Treasury instruction note 05 of 2020/2021.
“These suppliers are scrutinised, have stated their ability to deliver a particular service they offer and are expected to be able to deliver large supplies within a stipulated time maximum of five to seven days unless the items are urgently needed. The failure of suppliers to honour commitments also has an adverse effect on services provided to the people of Limpopo.
“These unreliable suppliers are more of threat now as the province is combating Covid-19 and the provincial government cannot afford any hindrances to services, waste any of their limited resources or do business with suppliers that fail to honour their commitments.
“The DA believes that the provincial government should not be doing business with suppliers that are untrustworthy or not able to deliver the services they have undertaken to provide. The suppliers that failed to provide the PPE as undertaken must be removed from the database of Limpopo suppliers of PPE during this Covid-19 pandemic as they have proven to be unreliable.”
(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)
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