CCMA to clean up its act

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has put steps in place to make sure that it does not repeat the same mistakes when procuring IT services as it did during the 2007/8 financial year.

Last month, the auditor-general (AG) found the organisation spent about R22.85 million on ICT procurement irregularly, because the proper procedures were not followed. The CCMA is not alone in not following the proper procedures, as several other government organisations have also fallen foul of the AG.

Subsequently, the organisation's governing body told the Parliamentary Labour Portfolio Committee that it was putting steps into place to prevent a repeat of the irregular spending.

However, while the CCMA's endeavours to make sure that procedures are followed have been welcomed, analysts say that the organisation needs to make sure that it follows through with its promises.

The CCMA's governing body says the irregularities were mainly due to the council's procurement policy not being aligned with National Treasury regulations and practices and there was one instance of a company misrepresenting its empowerment credentials.

In its report to the committee, the body says it has suspended its supply chain management policy and now defaults to treasury regulations. Acting chairman Bheki Ntshalintshali said in a statement that the body had or was putting steps in place to rectify the situations, prevent future oversights and limit the damage.

“We don't believe there is any more we can do. We are committed to correction and we have started applying correction already.” He adds that no one has benefited from these irregularities, or will be benefiting from them in the future.

The body also dealt with each specific AG finding, such as granting a contract for the supply and maintenance of printing services to a company that misrepresented its empowerment credentials. The CCMA has since cancelled the R4.9 million contract with the unnamed company.

The organisation also admitted that an IT services and maintenance contract had been extended without proper procedure being followed. However, it pointed out that the R4.6 million extension happened before current management was put in place, and corrective action had been taken.

However, in some instances, the CCMA noted that it had a different view to the AG, and some of the AG's findings may have changed if the AG had requested documentation from the council.

Mark Walker, director of vertical industries and insights for the Middle East and Africa region at IDC, says there does seem to be a trend towards government admitting that it is at fault. He says that government bodies typically do not admit guilt, and sweep issues under the table.

However, Walker speculates that perhaps the CCMA is trying to draw attention away from something else. He points out that elections are on the horizon, and the ruling party could be trying to dissipate a growing sense of dissatisfaction by showing that it is attempting to sort out problems in government.

Walker points out that South Africans are unhappy with low levels of service delivery, and government splurging on items such as expensive cars. He says information is becoming more easily available, and “it becomes obvious when someone has their hand in the cookie jar”.

However, says Walker, the public acknowledgment of guilt could be a political ploy to make government look good. He says the changes in policy need to be sustainable, and must change future behaviour to have any effect on misspending.

Steven Ambrose, MD of WWW Strategy, says that there needs to be consequences against those who broke with policy and procedure. Without consequences, he says, there will be no incentive to do better.

Ambrose points out systems are in place to make sure procurement is not abused, but these processes are often ignored. “Since day one, the AG has been issuing qualified reports left, right and centre... The sense is the civil service is a trough to which the blessed can visit,” Ambrose comments.