The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission, the Black Management Forum (BMF) and the Procurement Performance Institute on July 14 held a virtual press briefing outlining their joint stakeholder submission to National Treasury regarding the Draft Public Procurement Regulations issued under the Public Procurement Act.
Speaking in the briefing, BMF policy and research committee chairperson Dr Shevonne Henry warned that a major issue facing public procurement was criticisms of corruption, and that there was a need to corruption-proof these processes.
She pointed out that by “making the rules as rigid and centrally controlled as we did”, compliance demands became too high.
“When you overregulate, you create a breeding ground for corrupt practices, because what happens is your bigger players are better placed to compete, and your little guys simply can’t. And so, what do they do to make themselves more competitive? They engage in rent-seeking practices,” she explained.
Henry also outlined that a crucial issue that needed to be addressed, and was considered in the response, as being the lack of harmonisation between public procurement and other transformation mechanisms, such as broad-based black economic empowerment.
