Loopholes and weak controls undermine fairness in tender process

South Africa’s tender system - meant to ensure fair and open competition for government contracts - continues to face growing scrutiny.

From inflated prices to politically connected beneficiaries, procurement experts warn that loopholes and weak oversight make it vulnerable to manipulation.

Werner van Rooyen, the Director and Facilitator at How to Tender, explained that while any registered and tax-compliant business can apply for government tenders, a lack of oversight and education among procurement officials allows manipulation of the process.

"Government tenders, as a general rule, are open to the public, and that's why it is advertised publicly, and anybody can respond. There's no law prohibiting me and you, for example, who's got nothing to do with construction, from responding to a construction tender,” he said.

“Luckily, there are requirements built into the tender process that will hopefully eliminate us from going any further. So, nothing is stopping us from submitting a tender, but there are going to be requirements which we will be unable to meet and based on that, we should then be eliminated from the evaluation process... but you know, there are so many loopholes."

Van Rooyen said bid specification, evaluation and adjudication committees are meant to ensure fairness and compliance, but admitted that fragmented laws and weak internal controls make the system easy to exploit.

To listen to Werner van Rooyen in conversation with 702's Clement Manyathela, click on the audio below: