DA’s Bill will overhaul the way government does business

Parliament soon faces a choice: a vote on a Bill to continue with the old, failed way of governing and procurement that has seen billions siphoned off by corruption and poor delivery, or do they turn to a new future where good governance, delivery and accountability rule?

This is the decision they face when they vote on the DA’s Economic Inclusion for All Bill, also known as the Public Procurement Amendment Bill, which will fundamentally change the way government does business to ensure that every cent of taxpayer money is spent on the best goods and services and is accounted for.

The sickening depths to which the public service has sunk under the ANC’s grand tenderpreneur scheme of the last 30 years are everywhere to see.

Instead of maintaining roads, electricity and water infrastructure, we see communities left to fend for themselves, despite paying their rates.

In government, the situation is dire. The Madlanga commission into malfeasance in the police reveals a web of politically connected individuals who will stop at nothing to steal from the public if it makes them richer.

Hospitals like Tembisa are robbed of life-saving machinery and drugs because of crooked, politically protected cartels.

The DA has done the hard yards, turning around the Western Cape, Cape Town, Midvaal, and uMgeni, after voters threw out the ANC because of its poor management.

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The DA administrations have worked day and night to turn these metros into cities of good governance and delivery.

But while government still runs procurement and key departments under B-BBEE, provinces and cities find the game is always rigged in favour of the insider political elite.

The opportunity now exists to change that and usher in a new era of people-focused governance, where achieving real results and not enrichment is the key driving force.

The Bill could do just that. It will overhaul the way government does business, ensuring every cent is properly spent and there are no dark corners where political hyenas can feed off the country with dodgy deals.

This can only be done by aligning public procurement with the constitution, which says the state must contract for goods and services in a system that is “fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective”.

B-BBEE does none of that. Some three decades after the end of apartheid, we cannot continue the system of race-based thinking – it must be chucked out and replaced with an outcomes-driven system centred on inclusive development and value-for-money procurement.

SA already uses tests of “means” and “actual poverty” for things like social grant and Nsfas applications, so why would B-BBEE cling on to race?

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Our vision is that the old B-BBEE scorecard will go, to be replaced by a scorecard that awards points based on how effectively a supplier will deliver and contribute to real sustainable development.

No honest analysis could say that it’s better to give a R2 billion contract to someone just because their skin is a certain colour, versus that R2 billion going to someone who will invest millions into the community.

Under the law, 80% of what counts will be the value for money a contract brings to taxpayers.

A further 20% will be based on the bidding company’s ability to deliver economic inclusion.

But most critically, no bidder with a proven record of fraud, corruption, or misrepresentation will be permitted to apply.

It’s good to make this cut right up front. SA is tantalizingly close to turning governance around.

All that is required to make this change is for those clinging to B-BBEE to agree on new, universally accepted standards for procurement and governance.

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