Mboweni should expect a fight back on PPE tender probes

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni should expect to be slapped with court action by those attempting to conceal corrupt PPE deals, as his intention to expose awarded service providers could open a can of worms, said an analyst.

In response to mounting calls for allegations of corruption around the R500 billion Covid-19 relief fund to be probed, Mboweni announced this week that all contracted PPE service providers must be made public with full details of the companies which won the tenders, who the competitors were and why their bids were rejected.

President Cyril Ramaphosa subsequently appointed a committee of ministers on Thursday, which included Mboweni and chaired by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, to deal with such allegations.

Ramaphosa followed through on Mboweni’s call as he requested all ministers and premiers to provide information on the names of companies and details of tenders and contracts awarded in national departments, provincial governments and public entities during the pandemic.

Mboweni had said he would instruct this at a meeting set down with MECs of Finance, to try and find out if proper procurement processes were followed, and if not, why rules were flouted.

While the pronouncement might infringe some rights of privacy on the part of the service provider, Mboweni acted within his rights based as he has to account for public funds, said economist Prof Bonke Dumisa.

“If we look at straight business practices, that may be seen to be infringing on the privacy of the service providers. However, we must look at the background against which all these contracts or tenders were awarded… They did not advertise… to create transparency around the processes.”

“The minister is actually acting within his rights as the person who is accountable for the use of finances of the country. People made a lot of money here, most of that money was not a question of it going to those people, but they were fronting for many politicians in the process. The process of exposing this thing could open a can of worms. Mboweni will be called all sorts of names but the bottom line is, there is a lot of maleficence in South Africa and that is why the population is up in arms,” Dumisa said.

However, it could be argued that the right to privacy was not in question as any service provider who enters into a contract with the state has to do so in line with the Constitution.

Section 1(b) of the Constitution states that the system of governance must be open, accountable and responsive, explained director of Accountability Now Advocate Paul Hoffman.

“If you look at Section 217 of the Constitution, it says that procurement has to be transparent, competitive, just and equitable and cost-effective. You can’t be accountable if you are doing it all in secret, and you certainly can’t work out if a particular tender is cost-effective if you don’t know what the tender is for and what rates have been quoted in the tender for supplying PPE.”

“If you want to contract with the state then you are expected to do it in terms of the Constitution and the Constitution asks for transparency in Section 217 in relation to procurement of goods and services from the state. The foundational value of responsiveness, accountability and openness sits entirely with that,” said Hoffman.

Despite Mboweni being an “honest person with integrity”, the finance minister could be “played” by those he works with, Dumisa said.

“The minister is a very honest person and a person of integrity but I cannot give the same description to most of the other people he is forced to work with… I don’t trust politicians. There will be all sorts of games being played to protect each other and he will find himself being a loner. They will simply blackball him.”

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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