ANC should learn from DA’s tender systems

25 October 2016

Let me start with the ANC’s favourite quote: “tell no lies, claim no easy victories.” Often repeated in this house, but contradicted by the ANC frequently.

The claim that Gauteng is the first to have implemented the open tender system is neither factual nor a victory. The City of Cape Town, as Hon. Randall pointed out, opened its bid adjudication committee to public and media scrutiny for all tenders on the first of July 2006, for all tenders. The City of Tshwane has adopted the same system and the City of Johannesburg has announced, due to its structure, that it will be bringing the matter of opening all bid adjudication committee for a vote to full council.

Since its inception in 2006 - R15-billion worth of tenders in the City of Cape Town, every single financial year, have been awarded in an open, fair and transparent manner.

The City of Cape Town also boasts the best figures for awarding tenders to BBBEE compliant firms, since the DA does not continuously empower the same individuals over and over based on party membership and links to the ruling elite.

Despite all of this, the ANC in Gauteng has claimed it is the only government that runs open tenders through its open bid adjudication committee, despite the fact that the DA did it 10 years ago. In fact, at a recent summit, on the day the finance minister was charged by the NPA, the Premier said that the DA did not run open tenders, knowing full well that we do.

But open tenders are not just about opening the bid adjudication committee to public scrutiny, but it should be about access to information and maximising the number of bids received. It cannot be right that the same firms get tenders over and over by government.

The DA takes transparency seriously, as openness is more than just opening meetings to the public.

The ANC in Gauteng has admitted to having paid R30 for a loaf of bread, and ANC municipalities have admitted to being charged R30 for a tungsten lightbulbs. This is because there is a massive racket of corruption happening at the request for quotation system under R30 000, where only those who have access to information put in quotes as the entire process is shrouded in secrecy.

Access to tenders is equally important - all tenders and quotes above R2000 are advertised on the City of Cape Town website and companies registered in a given tender category receive a text message whenever a new tender is listed, to maximise the number of bids received. The DA’s approach is that no tender is reserved for anybody.

I challenge the ANC Government in Gauteng to follow the DA’s approach to openness, by setting up an easily accessible portal where suppliers can register at any time, specify what good or services they are able to supply and make sure that every potential supplier is made aware of requests for quotations and tenders so that a number of quotes and bids are received, and that no companies are continuously favoured in the process.

Futhermore, I challenge the Premier and MEC Creecy to publicly challenge the Minister of Public Enterprises to make every State-owned enterprise adopted the open tender system, instead of falsely claiming the DA does not run open tenders when we do. SOE’s are being fleeced for billons by a crony tender network known as the Zuma-Gupta Axis. I hereafter refer to this axis as Zupta.

In fact, state capture is being driven by the greed for tenders by the Zupta Axis. If the ANC in Gauteng is serious about ridding out country of corruption, they should order every Gauteng ANC Member of Parliament to support the DA’s motion of no confidence in the President, where there will then be enough votes to remove a corrupt president from office.

For as long as the ANC in Gauteng keeps Zuma and the Gupta’s in power, you have no leg to stand on in preaching or grandstanding about anti-corruption measures, when the leader of the ANC violated the constitution

History will judge you for allowing our national nightmare of corruption, from the highest office in the land, to continue.

Issued by Ashor Sarupen, DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Finance, 25 October 2016