State Capture Commission hears about SAA tender loopholes

A former acting chief procurement officer at South African Airways (SAA) has told the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in Parktown, Johannesburg, that when he joined the airline in 2014, there were many procurement loopholes.

Masimba Dahwa says tender documents were not properly secured as they were left all over the floor, with some of them going missing.

He was the second witness to testify before the commission on Friday.

“When a Request for Proposal (RFP) went out chair most of the time they would go out without the draft terms. And these were conditions where you’re telling the bidders that in terms of the delivery of service or the goods these are the draft terms and conditions we expect you to conform with, but the practice chair the whole tender process would happen without such kind of documents going out.”

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Dahwa also told the Commission that a BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) commissioner together with national treasury had warned the SAA board under the chairmanship of Dudu Myeni not to implement a policy in which 30%  of all procurements at the airline would be set aside for black businesses.

In a letter that both the treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) wrote to Myeni, they warned that the policy was against the BEE code of good conduct and the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) said implementing such a policy would place them under scrutiny.

SAA had been mandated to immediately report back to both treasury and DTI regarding the cancellation of this policy.

Dahwa detailed that when Myeni tried to impose the policy he challenged her and the board. Myeni then threatened to remove Dahwa.

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