The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has responded to ITWeb’s recent story, headlined Top ICT tenders: DPSA bypasses SITA.
In the story, it was reported that the department is looking for an ICT service provider to supply a range of customer-centred ICT technical support services. These include helpdesk, desktop, network, server and security management services for an estimated 450 employees, as well as the departmental technological infrastructure.
ITWeb noted in this previous story that the DPSA had chosen not to contract with the State IT Agency (SITA) for these services.
The DPSA has since issued a statement to clarify the issue, saying this is not the case.
According to the statement, the SITA Act states that departments must use SITA for mandatory services and may request SITA optional services or use the SITA transversal contracts.
“All public entities are allowed to make use of SITA transversal contracts. A department may engage directly with prospective suppliers based on a user requirement specification approved by the department,” it notes.
“In the bid specification published by the department, under the mandatory documents, it has been mentioned that the service provider must provide evidence that they are registered under SITA Transversal Contract 1183/2013. The distinctions that apply in the procurement of ICT goods and services in the public sectors, namely, ‘mandatory’ and ‘non-mandatory’ processes and procedures, respectively determine whether procurement should be through SITA or is decentralised to departments.”
The DPSA says the tender which ITWebreferred to falls under the “non-mandatory” ICT procurement route and since itsinception, the same procedure has been followed without any fault found by the auditor-general.
“The tender was therefore advertised in compliance with the relevant procurement regulations and procedures.”