Tender advertisement error delays farmers' access to equipment, putting food security at risk

1 November 2023

The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is putting food security at further risk by not providing much-needed equipment to our farmers due to an error in the agro-processing equipment tender advertisement.

Earlier this year, a tender was advertised for the provision of agro-processing equipment to farmers. However, due to a mistake in the advertisement, the tender had to be cancelled. The advertisement did not state that the tender briefing on 23 May 2023 was compulsory. This mistake was only realised after the bidders did not attend the briefing.

This information was revealed in a reply to the Democratic Alliance's (DA) written questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mbali Hlophe.

This is unacceptable and indicates a lack of monitoring and evaluation of tenders by the department. This has had a severe effect on farmers who rely on agro-processing equipment to process their produce.

The DA will be tabling follow-up questions to determine if this tender has been awarded, as the MEC indicated that a service provider for the equipment would be appointed by October.

We also want to ascertain the measures that the department is implementing to ensure that such tender advertisement errors do not happen again.

Issued by Bronwynn Engelbrecht, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, 1 November 2023