Gauteng govt to release list of PPE contractors ‘to promote transparency’

The Gauteng provincial government will publish a list of contractors it used for Covid-19 procurement in an effort to promote transparency, it said on Saturday.

In a statement released by spokesperson Thabo Masebe, the Gauteng government said it is publishing a list of companies that have been contracted to provide goods and services since April.

The first list contains names of companies contracted for the provincial government’s Covid-19 response.

“The Gauteng Treasury is today publishing the first Covid-19 expenditure report, covering the period April to July 2020.

“The report includes full details of the companies that are awarded contracts, description and value of goods and services to be supplied and amounts paid to each supplier,” he said.

Masebe said Gauteng Treasury would publish the list monthly.

“As committed by Premier David Makhura, going forward, Gauteng Treasury will publish the names of all companies contracted to provide goods and services for the entire provincial government monthly.”

He added: “Clean governance has been one of the hallmarks of the Gauteng provincial government during the 5th and 6th administrations.”

Masebe said the provincial government’s commitment to clean governance led to the introduction of the Open Tender system in 2014, “which significantly improved transparency and accountability in the procurement processes”.

“The Open Tender system also resulted in an increase in the number of clean audits achieved by various departments and entities of the provincial government over a five-year period.”

He said the Gauteng government’s fight against corruption was “further strengthened through the appointment of a civil society-led Gauteng Ethics and Advisory Council”.

Masebe said that, in March, in response to Covid-19, National Treasury and the Gauteng Treasury issued instruction notes and circulars, which provided guidelines pertaining to procurement processes for Covid-19 related goods and services.

“The guidelines emphasised that there must be compliance with supply chain rules to avoid abuse of public resources.

“The damning allegations of corruption regarding procurement of Covid-19 related goods and services have profoundly eroded public confidence in the collective work of the province in the campaign for clean, transparent and accountable governance.”

He said that, following the allegations, Makhura requested the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate all allegations of corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 related goods and services.

“The executive council has resolved that the provincial Treasury should implement appropriate measures to ensure that all departments and entities comply with supply chain rules.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.