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Special Tribunal sets aside another dodgy Covid PPE tender

It may have happened nearly four years ago, but South Africans have not forgotten the mad rush to exploit the relaxed emergency procurement regulations that were put in place when Covid-19 hit the country. Corruption flourished as civil servants and private companies alike fell over themselves to grab a slice of the pie. Overnight, companies Read more >

The three revolutions of public procurement in Africa

By Edwin MuhumuzaFirst published on Open Contracting Partnership Public procurement is like the heartbeat of public spending in most of Africa – by some estimates, it accounts for 17% of the GDP of African countries.  There is growing recognition that the public procurement system can be a strong force for policy implementation, helping to tackle Read more >

Godongwana calls for ethical public procurement to be the norm

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana addressed attendees at the National Treasury’s third Public Finance Management Conference which took place on 20 September 2023. The theme was Innovative and Agile Public Service Funding and Delivery during Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) Times. Godongwana had a few profound things to say about public procurement in light of Read more >

CW report further underscores need for public procurement reform

Image by Freepik Corruption Watch’s recent Procurement Risk Trends 2023 report records the alarming rate at which state organs use the practice of deviations and contract expansions in public procurement, and not always for good purposes. While it clarifies that there may be perfectly valid reasons for deviating from a prescribed procurement procedure or for Read more >

Latest CW report tracks procurement risk trends

Corruption Watch (CW), working with procurement law expert Professor Geo Quinot of Stellenbosch University, released Procurement Risk Trends 2023, the third such report, following the first two that were published in 2021 and 2022, respectively. These reports, which cover the period between 2016 and 2023, specifically focus on trends in public procurement deviations and contract expansions. Read more >

CSOs demand clarity, transparency in emergency procurement

As civil society organisations dedicated to building an accountable, democratic and capable state, the government’s new disaster management regulations are cause for alarm. The electricity crisis is destroying the livelihoods of our people. We believe that urgent action is needed to address it. The new emergency procurement provisions, however, threaten more corruption and inefficiency. The Read more >

Criminal justice partly responsible for empty tender defaulters register

Corruption Watch’s Procurement Watch (PW) tool is an invaluable resource for detailed monitoring of public procurement. By aggregating procurement data from reports submitted to National Treasury (NT) by all procuring organs of state, PW allows organisations and individuals to more easily pick up red flags relating to deviations and contract extensions in the public procurement sphere. Launched in October 2021, Read more >