Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson has revealed that the government has recently blacklisted 59 companies that were supplying services to the government, in recent crackdowns. Several business organiisations believe draft government procurement regulations will make the state more vulnerable to corruption.
Centre for Development and Enterprise executive director Ann Bernstein
Development think-tank Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) on Thursday said National Treasury should withdraw preferential procurement provisions in its draft public procurement regulations, warning that they will increase the cost of everything the state buys, delay delivery and create new opportunities for corruption.
This was contained in the CDE’s formal submission on the draft General Public Procurement Regulations. There is no authoritative estimate of the value of goods and services procured by government agencies and state-owned entities from the private sector each year, but it is considerably more than R500 billion.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Public Procurement Act into law on July 18, 2024. Nearly two years later, on April 16, 2026, National Treasury published the Act’s draft General Public Procurement Regulations and invited public comment until July 15 this year.
