Prisons food tender stinks: Parliament

PARLIAMENT'S portfolio committee on correctional services has lambasted the renewal of a contract for the supply of food to seven prisons, saying it was unfair and unconstitutional.

The contract has been held by the Bosasa Group since 2004 and was renewed for a year last year. When it expired again, in July, it was extended by six months.

"The committee is very much unhappy with the whole contract . it is against the constitution and the Public Finance Management Act," said a visibly angry chair of the committee, Dennis Bloem.

Bloem was reacting to the failure by the prisons officials yesterday to explain the delay in calling for bidders ahead of the expiry date of the contract at the end of last month.

The department's deputy chief commissioner for development and care, Subashini Moodley, told MPs that prisons' boss Vernie Petersen has ordered an investigation into the delay in the procurement process.

"The commissioner has asked for an external investigation that will look into the entire management of the contract. We are trying to look into where the problems were. One of my responsibilities is to establish why it was not done on time."

The department's chief deputy commissioner for corporate services, Alfred Tsetsane, admitted there were "flaws" in the process. "We are doing the investigation to correct this."

The department refused to divulge the cost of the six-month extension of the contract.

The food contract has been a source of tension between Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour and Petersen, with the minster insisting on getting involved in what appears to be Petersen's job.

The DA's James Selfe questioned Balfour's involvement. Tsetsane said the minister might have become involved because he wanted to give leadership in areas in which Petersen might have had a different perspective.

The Sunday Times reported that, early last week, Balfour threatened to fire Petersen for refusing to implement his instruction to appoint a departmental team that would appoint an adviser to draft specifications for the tender, which is worth more than R200-million.

Following a heated meeting on Thursday, Petersen finally got his way and the tender was advertised on Friday - in defiance of Balfour's order that Petersen halt all processes related to the tender.

Delaying the advertising further would have resulted in Bosasa's contract being extended for more than the current six months.

Petersen also managed to have Balfour's preferred head of the team, regional commissioner Patrick Gillingham, removed from the position.