Johannesburg, 19 Jul 2002
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has launched an e-procurement initiative to allow suppliers to compete for IEC business online.
The new IEC Web site, www.votaquotes.elections.org.za, allows businesses to bid for contracts in a "reverse auction". The system automatically ranks the top bids, allowing all bidders to see the top five bids throughout the bidding process, and so compete against them.
The Web site is tightly integrated into the IEC`s existing enterprise resource planning system. Custom developed by IT partner Accenture, the system is intended to make the process of doing business with the IEC transparent and fair. It also aims to cut costs for the IEC.
IEC chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula said in launching the site this week that the IEC spends between R30 million and R230 million a year on goods and services. It is envisaged that the costs of the new e-procurement system will be recovered in a matter of months, based on the procurement savings.
To submit tenders, suppliers must register on the site and be approved by the IEC. Black-owned companies, women and the disabled will be given preferential treatment through a points system that automatically takes their status into consideration when ranking bids. A higher price could therefore still rank as the top bid if submitted by a black-owned company.
Business representatives attending the launch expressed concern about the system`s ability to assess bids to provide services, offer alternative products or judge a supplier`s competence or quality.
However, the IEC is enthusiastic about its new system, saying that it allows for new efficiency, cost-effectiveness and transparency in its procurement procedures. It believes it will also eliminate any possible irregularities in the procurement process.
The IEC reports that at least 742 suppliers have already registered on the site, and that advertising campaigns will be held to bring small and medium enterprises and black-owned companies in rural areas on board too.
To make bidding as easy as possible for suppliers, each supplier need register only once to be able to bid whenever new business is advertised. Suppliers can arrange to be notified of new auctions via e-mail, SMS or fax.
They can also activate a proxy bidding service on the site, whereby they specify a secret minimum bid they are prepared to submit, and their bids are automatically updated to stay in contention against other bids.
Electoral Commission chairperson Brigalia Bam said at the launch that the new e-procurement system was part of a plan to use technology creatively to allow the IEC to manage its core business - running the elections - as efficiently as possible.
"Technology is the great phenomenon of the 21st Century," she said. "We want to use it as much as possible in the electoral process and the run up to the 2004 elections."
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