MBOMBELA- More than eight officials including the Head of Department (HOD) of Education, Lucy Moyane will face disciplinary action following the findings in the investigation into the 22 laptops procured by the department.
Premier, Mandla Ndlovu briefed the media this morning and outlined the findings. He said the procurement process was flawed and the service provider did not even deliver the laptops that met the specifications.
According to the premier, the procurement does not comply with both Section 217 of the Constitution read with the provisions of Section 38 and 45 of the PFMA, as the process cannot be said to have been fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. He said the supplier did not comply with the terms of the purchase order and delivered laptops of a lesser quality than what was approved and paid for.
“The departmental officials irregularly specified the brand they required instead of the functionality, resulting in only specific suppliers responding to the issued Request For Quotations (RFQ). The departmental officials irregularly invited bids from a particular brand of suppliers and within the limited locality of Mbombela despite the fact that it was required that they expand the scope to all suppliers of all brands provincially,” explained the premier.
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He added that the department accepted delivery of laptops not in accordance with the specification. The initial specifications were varied without a proper process and by an official not duly authorised. The conditions specified by the Bid Adjudication Committee to negotiate the price prior to the order being issued were not adhered to. Then the Department procured laptops of similar specifications, which could have been procured for a lesser amount had due diligence been applied.”
“We intend to institute disciplinary action against all implicated officials, including the HOD, in line with the applicable prescripts, such as, but not limited to, the Public Service Act,1994, the Public Service Regulations, 2016, the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 and the Senior Management Handbook,” said the premier.
Some of the recommendations include conducting lifestyle reviews on all officials of the department implicated in the report, which review may lead to lifestyle audits, in line with the applicable prescripts. As a result of the investigation which raises questions regarding the governance of the department it is necessary to conduct a governance review to establish the state of the department.
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A progress report will be made available regrading the implementation of all the recommendations flowing from this Investigation report on June 30, 2025.
