From a mere 29 during the 2019/2020 financial year, the number of civil servants doing business with the Eastern Cape government skyrocketed to 565 during the Covid-19 pandemic.Premier Oscar Mabuyane said last week that his exco has resolved that the respective heads of department “must take the necessary remedial action against potentially conflicted officials, the officials of departments responsible for sourcing quotations, bid evaluation committees and supply chain management officials.
“The department where the official is employed is required to take the necessary disciplinary action against both the identified conflicted officials and provide proof to provincial treasury.” The Democratic Alliance’s Bobby Stevenson said the Covid-19 “procurement pot” created an “irresistible opportunity for greedy civil servants to jump in on the act”.
He said there are many reasons why public servants should not do business with the government in their private capacity. “It erodes the competitive aspect. Jobs for pals, friends and family violate standards and create the very real possibility that prices will be exaggerated. It does not make for a fair playing field. It restricts the ability of the private sector and especially small businesses to tender for work when getting the work is dependent on having connections.
“People must be prosecuted. Until then, the outrage and the call to action will remain hollow and ineffective.”“They were rendered ineffective by appointment of people who don’t follow through on their mandate, leaving a well-coordinated system of corrupt officials, who depended on the extensive failure of the system. Corruption is indeed rampant, widespread and systemic.
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