Technology must be used to fight corruption in tender and procurement processes to ensure openness and transparency in this space.
Speaking at GovTech 2016 yesterday, Mmamoloko Kubayi, chairperson of the portfolio committee on telecommunications and postal services in Parliament, said procurement should not be something that is hidden.
Smart procurement must be driven by government legislation and policy, she said. "The need for smart procurement speaks to the Bill of Rights.
"What we do in terms of procurement emanates from the Constitution and if we are able to follow what the Constitution says - in terms of public participation - it goes with openness and transparency, and this is where at times we find ourselves mainly from a government point of view being challenged.
"National Treasury has had quite a number of cases where it has had to assist departments to manage fundamental compliance. We need to have procurement or tender processes that are transparent, open and fair."
According to Kubayi, the majority of corruption in procurement as per the auditor-general's findings, is mainly in supply chain management.
"ICT is not an all-in-one solution that will solve our problems, but it should be able to assist us to improve our systems and assist us on some of the things we make mistakes on."
She also emphasised the point that procurement is not only between a department or an entity and a bidder.
"As a citizen, I have a right to receive information about a procurement process should I require it and the government department should be able to provide this information.
"People that are in the procurement space must remember that whatever information is required should be provided, as this is part of openness and transparency within our democracy."
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