Gauteng government’s R500 000 and under procurement policy called into question

Civil Society groups have called on the Gauteng government to review its policy relating to the procurement of goods under R500 000.

They say currently any purchases above R500 000 require a public tender process and anything under this amount simply requires the CEO to sign off.

Slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran red flagged R850 million in suspicious payments at the Tembisa hospital on Gauteng’s East Rand.

She is said to have identified over 1 230 purchase orders all under R500 000.

The Defend Our Democracy campaign held a picket outside the Gauteng Legislature in Johannesburg to demonstrate against corruption in the provincial healthcare sector.

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation’s Neshaan Balton says, “What has certainly been exposed is a tactic to use corrupt practices just below the R500 000 mark because that means you do not have to go out on tenders. It shows a huge abuse of the quotation system and I suspect this is now being used across many of the health sectors and many of the areas of government. So, this is an area that needs to be investigated.”

VIDEO | Civil Society groups protest against government corruption in Gauteng: