National Treasury has stopped the emergency procurement of Personal Protective Equipment, amid allegations of wanton corruption in the process to get medical equipment for frontline health workers.
Treasury told the standing committee on finance and the select committee on finance in Parliament that, together with the Auditor-General, they would publish preventative controls to identify the risks of misappropriation, fraud and corruption before a transaction for PPE takes place.
Government has in the last two weeks seen a rise in the allegations of graft in the procurement of gloves, masks, sanitisers and protective clothing.
“Emergency procurement for PPE and Protective Clothing is ended and institutions revert back to open procurement processes. Procurement must be compliant with existing instructions for procurement,” a presentation by National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane stated.
“National Treasury will lock an absolute price for all PPE and listed protective clothing procurement. Permission must be sought for any amount above the absolute price,” the new procurement instruction states.
Institutions must provide National Treasury with the names of all companies appointed to supply PPE and protective clothing, to be published on the National Treasury website, Mogajane said.
Yesterday, the ANC condemned the looting of COVID-19 funds to buy frontline health workers PPE, saying the organisation was “outraged” and “embarrassed” that some of its leaders were involved in the saga.
The governing party said those who have stolen from the public coffers during the global pandemic should be brought to book.
On Monday, trade union federation Cosatu said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration’s dysfunction and feebleness in the face of a crisis of corruption over COVID-19 funds was alarming.
The trade union federation, which is an ally of the ANC, reminded Ramaphosa that he ascended to power in 2017 on the ticket of fighting corruption.
The workers’ organisation noted that government departments and municipalities were engulfed in allegations of corruption related to COVID-19 funds in the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE).
