Creecy: ‘Open tender system to become the standard in Gauteng’

The Gauteng Provincial Government is planning to expand its open tender system to all the departments and major procurement agencies in the province.

Presenting her budget in the Gauteng legislature‚ Finance MEC Barbara Creecy said there were already five tenders that had been subjected to the open tender system and a further 11 were in the process of going through it.

“The intention in the new financial year is to expand this to 60% of the procurement of goods and services in the Gauteng Provincial Government. The premier has pronounced that he would want this being the standard way that procurement is done in the province by the end of this administration‚” Creecy said.

The open tender system was introduced by provincial government to allow the general public‚ including journalists‚ to attend meetings in which tenders are awarded. The first contract to be subjected to the system was the banking tender for which all the four commercial banks bid. First National Bank won the bid.

Creecy said this was just part of an effort to improve procurement processes and restore public confidence on tenders.

She said provincial government and treasury were working hard to ensure that officials in the departments' bid and adjudication committees improve their understanding of the supply chain regulations.

“We are doing a lot of training and hand holding that is why we will be introducing this gradually‚” she said.

– TMG Digital/The Times