Open tender processes, paying suppliers on time are all on new MEC for Finance priority list
24 Jul 2014
MEC for Finance Barbara Creecy has vowed to strengthen financial management in the province, deal decisively with incidents of fraud and corruption, and pay suppliers on time to support Premier Makhura's vision of radical transformation of the public sector.
Briefing the media on departmental strategic planning processes ahead of her departmental budget vote in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Friday, the MEC noted that when resources are wasted or diverted, service delivery is compromised and this results in government not being able to meet its obligation to the public.
"We have to reassure citizens of efforts placed towards a clean and transparent government. No citizen has to doubt the integrity of the state in the administration of tenders and whether those contracted for projects are qualified to implement and complete the work they are contracted for and that the tendering process is open and fair," MEC Creecy emphasises.
Provincial Treasury believes institution building and enhancing transparency in government accounting and procurement processes are the only lasting solutions to the problem of corruption.
Over the last few years, Treasury has played an important role at both provincial and local government level in implementing robust accounting practices, improving on supply chain management, vetting over 63 000 government employees and contract management and managing tight cash flows and improving liquidity. But there is still more to be done.
To enhance the openness and transparency of provincial procurement processes Provincial Treasury and the Department of Transport have agreed to pilot an open process around selected tenders in this financial year.
It will involve supporting bidders to comply with documentary requirements prior to the deadline for the tender; screening those sitting in the departmental acquisition committees for possible conflicts of interest; publicising companies that bid for these tenders, introducing independent compliance audits of the evaluation processes prior to the awarding of tenders and publicising who has won these tenders.
The purpose of this pilot exercise is to develop a model for open tendering by GPG departments that we will take to the provincial Executive Council for consideration and adoption.
MEC Creecy has also made it clear that she expects her officials to tackle the late payment of service providers with renewed vigour. On Monday, she met all officials responsible for processing of supplier payments both in the Gauteng Department of Finance and Gauteng Provincial Treasury to devise a plan to eradicate this challenge in the province.
"Firstly we are setting up an electronic platform that can be accessed by all current and prospective GPG suppliers to send invoices directly and communicate with us about non-payments; secondly we will improve on our existing invoice and payment tracking system to identify and elevate problem areas for rapid decision making and thirdly we will work with departments on further simplifying their payment and approval processes" said the MEC.
The Gauteng Department of Finance is mandated to bridge the digital divide amongst Gauteng's citizens. To this effect, the Gauteng Broadband Network has been identified as a key mechanism to bring about a connected government.
This strategic investment in broadband will result in a fibre optic transmission network of 1 600 km across the province. This network will connect all provincial government buildings, including regional satellite offices, all Thusong Centres, hospitals, and schools.
Creecy said before the end of this financial year the six core sites will all be connected. The core sites that will be connected are Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, 75 Fox Street, 82 Grayston Drive, the West Rand District Offices in Randfontein, Teraco, in Kempton Park, for internet, and Telkom for the government Data Centre. The core sites are distribution nodes from which it will be possible to start connection other government buildings.
"One of the criteria for judging the success of this project is cost saving. At present the current total spend on the telecommunications bill for the Gauteng Provincial Government is R 215 325 984.20. GBN is expected to yield savings of R162m per annum, once it's fully rolled out to the provincial government" said MEC Creecy.
Part of the modernisation of government services includes the digitisation of back office services. Over the last three years the E-recruitment system has handled 666 056 applications for 5 959 jobs online. The benefits to GPG departments of this service include: reduction of recruitment advertising costs from R13 693 996, 66 to R2 234 015,48 and improved turnaround times for processing of applications from 10 working days to 2 working days.
Over the years, Gauteng has seen a growing demand for services and this has not been matched by available financial resources. Over the past five years, the provincial government has improved its revenue from R2, 620 billion to R4, 344 billion. The Province is continuing to look at other ways to improve provincial revenue generation including advertising and rental from government properties.
However in the tight fiscal space, it will be necessary for the Provincial Government to leverage on resources outside of the provincial government to achieve more. The MEC noted that this would involve better synergy in prioritising, planning and budgeting between provincial and local government as well as expanding the role of the Gauteng Funding Agency.
Statement issued by John Sukazi, Gauteng Finance, July 24 2014
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