NW Education overpays by R6m for masks - SIU
The Department of Education in North West Education paid a whopping R9.2 million for cloth masks instead of the R2.5 million it was supposed to.
This is R6,7 million more than the initial costs.
These were the findings released by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on Tuesday.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago says an informal committee, set up by the provincial education department, sent out two requests for a quotation on behalf of the department.
“In the first RFQ, three service providers were appointed to the value of R3,7 million for the delivery of 50 000 masks.
“With the second RFQ, five service providers were appointed to the value of R5,512 million. However, the department used the two RFQs to procure 400 000 masks, 300 000 more than what was initially requested.
“The irregularity has resulted in the department having to pay more than R9.2 million for masks instead of R2,5 million. The regulated price for the face cloth mask by the National Treasury is R25.”
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According to Kganyago, competitive bids above R500 000 awarded by government entities must be awarded by a Bid Adjudication Committee in terms of National Treasury regulations.
“The SIU investigation has revealed that the department established an informal committee to manage the procurement of personal protective equipment outside the committee as provided in terms of Treasury regulations.”
"This means that the committee may have committed financial misconduct as it failed to ensure that the supply chain management governing public procurement process was fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective."
Processes to declare the contract invalid and to recover the money has begun.
