Engineering body, Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) has warned that South Africa cannot afford to have the new Public Procurement Bill signed into law in its current form because it will hinder rather than support infrastructure delivery.
The Public Procurement Bill was introduced into Parliament in May last year.
The primary purpose of the Bill is to create a single piece of national legislation that regulates public procurement, including preferential procurement.
CESA CEO Chris Campbell says, “This is a procurement Bill, and with infrastructure and the dire state in which our infrastructure is, there are but literally only two mentions of infrastructure in a Bill of this nature, whereas there should have been more deliberate emphasis on expenditure, and procurement related infrastructure and other strategic assets. One wonders, whether enough thought has gone into it so that we can be more deliberate in how we intend getting value for money.”
VIDEO: Spotlight on Public Procurement Bill:
