A strategic framework and operational guidelines for public sector procurement practices : the case of the National Consumer Commission (NCC)

Abstract

South Africa’s public procurement practices bear much significance due to the country’s history of Apartheid whereby government procurement opportunities favoured large and established businesses. Due to this past, public procurement is currently being regarded as an instrument to redress the injustices of the past, thereby allowing all interested parties to participate in the mainstream economy. It is for this reason that public procurement found itself firmly imbedded in the country’s supreme law, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and other statutory prescripts. This study was motivated by continuous negative audit outcomes as annually revealed by the Office of the Auditor-General. These reports reveal that non-compliance with procurement legislation, regulations and prescribed processes is endemic in the public sector and leads to the incurrence of huge irregular expenditure. In this regard, the study aimed at developing a strategic framework and operational guidelines which may assist the National Consumer Commission (NCC) as a case study of this research, to improve compliance with procurement laws and regulations, and strengthen adherence to prescribed processes and procedures. The application of such a strategic framework and accompanying operational guidelines may eliminate the high incidents of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the implementation of its procurement practices. Public institutions undertake procurement activities utilising public funds allocated to them to operationalise their strategic objectives and to execute their service delivery obligations. In this regard, it is crucial that public officials act as good stewards of public funds and have the necessary skills and knowledge to diligently perform procurement functions. Unfortunately, this study’s theoretical foundation revealed that public officials often become guilty of maladministration and corrupt activities aimed at self-enrichment and self-interests. Furthermore, despite relative rigorous political oversight mechanisms and a comprehensive statutory and regulatory framework, incidences of procurement malpractice continue to increase. It became evident that the public sector institutions require a strategic framework and operational guidelines for public sector procurement practices. Such a strategic framework and operational guidelines should reflect the principles of fairness, equity, transparency, competitiveness and cost-effectiveness, as well as adhere to national and international procurement standards and best practices. In addition, drawn from the

Constitution, 1996 stipulations of relevant legislation and regulations that guide the implementation of public procurement practices must be accommodated in such a strategic framework and operational guidelines. The findings of this study reveal that, although the NCC generally applies prescribed procurement prescripts, full compliance with those prescripts is still a challenge, hence the institution incurs irregular expenditure. To assist the NCC to eradicate irregular expenditure, the contribution of this study is the design of a procurement strategic framework and operational guidelines which intend to provide high-level guidance to senior managers on procurement matters and operational day-to-day procurement activities to officials, respectively. This strategic framework and accompanying operational guidelines were designed based on method, source and data triangulation by synthesising the Procurement Theory, a literature review, an analysis of the statutory and regulatory framework, international standards and best practices, as well as an empirical investigation into the NCC as case study. The unit of analysis imbedded in this case study was procurement officials of the NCC. A census study was conducted utilising semi-structured interviews with sampled officials. Although a case study methodology was utilised and the findings of the study thus cannot be generalised to the entire public sector, the proposed procurement strategic framework and operational guidelines hold significant value for all public sector institutions. The successful application of the procurement strategic framework and operational guidelines may decrease the prevalence of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure as well as the high incidences of corruption and financial malpractice.