The legal teams for the city, the province, and amaBhungane, who are involved in the Constitutional Court challenge of the Procurement Act.
While the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Provincial Government headed to the Constitutional Court to challenge the Public Procurement Act, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has not only shared their concerns, but also reaffirmed their support for the Act.
Cosatu Parliamentary spokesperson Matthew Parks said they are not convinced by the arguments presented to the Constitutional Court and fear the city and the province are putting the cart before the horse.
“We believe their concerns would best be addressed by engaging Treasury on the regulations. The risks of their court action would be to allow the wild west that is public procurement to continue.
“Cosatu supports the Public Procurement Act, in particular its objectives to boost emerging SMMEs, historically disadvantaged communities, and local businesses. We believe the Act drafted by the government led by the African National Congress will be a critical weapon in the war against state capture and corruption that has become a cancer across the state, especially in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and municipalities,” Park said.
