We will not allow procurement to seize up and so we took action this week to ensure that we can continue to deliver services and infrastructure projects in the Western Cape.
Yesterday, 09 March 2022, the Provincial Cabinet agreed that our procurement system must be enabled to continue to operate despite the recent letter issued by the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO).
We will maintain the status quo and apply the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Regulations, 2017, up until such time as the Constitutional Court clarifies the date of the invalidity of such regulations, following an application to the Constitutional Court by National Treasury.
We will not implement pre-qualification criteria related to local content in terms of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (Act 5 of 2000), given that this approach has been declared unconstitutional, until such time that the National Treasury and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has determined a legal and viable modality for implementation.
This month alone, the direct impact of stopping the supply chain system would have been to immediately halt 86 tenders to the value of R1.85 billion, which have now been enabled and will continue.
Georgina Maree
Spokesperson for the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities
(Responsible for the Provincial Treasury and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism)
Cell: 076 423 7541