The Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), Mkhuleko Hlengwa, has warned about potential abuse of government supply chain systems through the use of deviations and expansions policy to dodge thorough procurement processes in the public sector.
The warning follows a Scopa hearing held with Eskom on Tuesday, regarding deviations and expansions of contracts at the entity.
The committee raised concerns that these should not be the norm or used for short cuts in procurement.
“We take exception on the issue of deviations and expansions which has become a norm at Eskom. This must be the last resort and applied in exceptional circumstances when every necessary option has been tried. There is a concerning trend we have been observing on the abuse of this process to circumvent due and thorough processes,” Hlengwa said.
Hlengwa said the presence of deviations and expansions in law and statutes did not make this practice a norm, and warned officials against creating self-made crisis and emergencies in order to resort to deviations and expansions.
“We need to be convinced that there was no other recourse than to apply to the National Treasury for deviations,” he said.
The chairperson said the committee will schedule more engagement with Eskom to continue deliberations on the subject of deviations and expansions.
The committee welcomed cooperation from the National Treasury and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to provide more details.
Scopa also received an investigation report from the Eskom board into allegations of racism, breach of process and nepotism against the Group Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter, which found that the allegations could not be substantiated.
Source: South African Government News Agency