The Mpumalanga Department of Public Works has wasted over R17 million by failing to finalise a tender which could have drastically reduced its costs.
According to a report by the Integrity Management Unit, the provincial government could have saved R582 000 a month on its telecommunications costs over the past 30 months, had it awarded a telecoms tender.
The tender for telecommunication-related services involved voice and data management for all departments and should have been awarded in 2006. The tender process has been started and abandoned three times since the first bid announcement in 2006.
The report further states the provincial government spends nearly R1.2 million a month on telephone calls and this cost could have been halved had the R50 million tender been awarded on time.
The Integrity Management Unit has blamed former provincial public works head of department Priscilla Nkwinika for the delays and recommended the department appoint bidders for the tender within 90 days.
Costly decisions
The report also notes that Nkwinika had failed to implement decisions taken by the bid evaluation and adjudication committees, and had stalled the process over a period of three years. The bid committees had recommended Fusion Lowveld as the preferred bidder and finalised price negotiations with the company.
According to the report, the former MEC had ignored recommendations by the committee and repeated the evaluation process several times. The report states that recommendations made in 2006 were unilaterally reversed by Nkwinika as decisions were taken while she was on leave. On her return, she revoked decisions taken by the committees and restarted the tender process.
The three-year contract should have been completed in 2006, the unit says. Nkwinika's decisions to appoint consultants, ignore decisions by the relevant committees, and repeat the bidding process had severely cost the provincial government, the report reveals.
No remedy
The contract is currently held on a month-to-month basis by a company called KwaMahlanga Connect. The report calls on premier David Mabuza to take action against Nkwinika as she blatantly sidestepped supply chain management guidelines and generally accepted practices when she ignored recommendations by the committees.
“The losses incurred could have been prevented. Action should be taken against Nkwinika for failing to ensure the tender was properly evaluated and adjudicated,” the report states.
The premier has since relocated Nkwinika to his office and has given no indication that any action will be taken against her.
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