Meddling by dept disturbs board duties

 THE Central Supply and Tenders Board did not properly coordinate procurement practices in all government agencies because of meddling by the Finance department.

Public Accounts Committee chairman John Hickey said during the inquiry on Wednesday that the board was to not only consider and award tenders but also coordinate procurement practices in all government agencies.

“The Auditor-General found that the CSTB had not done so for a variety of reasons,” he said. 

“Some of them due to meddling by the Department of Finance and also because the board was not conducting its business lawfully, was not properly funded and could not manage a quorum at meetings and lacked independence.”

He said the auditor-general recommended that to ensure that public bodies were included in the CSTB power, the Public Finances (Management) Act be amended and to determine whether the term “Finance Instruction” was appropriate where procurement was concerned.

“Has this been done?” he said.

CSTB chairman Philip Eludeme said: “I don’t think so. Procurement forms an important part of the PFMA and the Department of Finance is solely responsible for the issuance and enforcement of the act.”

Eludeme said the board conducted training exercise for agencies.

“For example, 16 provinces and four agencies were covered. Last year, only two agencies were covered and we have grand plans to conduct training for four regional training sessions early this year but that didn’t happen because of no funding from the Finance,” Eludeme said.