Transport and Public Works
According to the Procurement Disclosure Report of April 2020/21, safety masks to the value of about R39 million was awarded to TUSK CC:
(a) What type of masks was purchased, (b) for whom were these approximately 2 570 000 masks purchased at R15,12 per unit, (c) what processes were followed to ensure that the outsourced procurement function was allowed also to be considered as a supplier for a procurement requirement of his Department, (d)(i) what has been the total spend on Tusk CC from January 2020 to date and (ii) for what purposes and (e)(i) what was the inception date of the contract, (ii) what is the current contract value and (iii) what function is the internal procurement function performing?
- The type of masks that was purchased was 3-ply surgical masks (as indicated in the National Treasury Instruction) which is not a medical product and not the Surgical masks for Health Care workers or Mask Respirators (i.e N95 or FFP2 masks).
In terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act the Employer are required to provide PPE items to its employees. Since DTPW is in the main an infrastructure Department, involved in construction works and the management of construction sites, it is regulated by strict Occupational Health and Safety directives, prescribing the utilization of PPE on all construction sites.
- The procurement was done, based on the needs analysis performed at that time. The Department had the following obligations under COVID-19, where PPE was required:
1. Closing borders – Interprovincial
2. Traffic response (Departmental)
3. Quarantine and Isolation facilities
- Construction
- Preparation
- Adjustments to building and facilities
4. Field Hospitals
- Rental
- Configuration
- Fit-out
- Soft services (Cleaning |Food-aid |Facilities management)
5. Red Dot (taxi services)
- Repatriation
- Transport to and from Quarantine and Isolation facilities
6. Red Dot Lite (taxi services)
- Transport to and from hospitals (nurses and frontline workers)
The unit cost of the masks is the result of supply and demand. At the beginning of lockdown people were panic buying and several commodities were out of stock. The orders placed with the company was way before the first version of the National Treasury Instruction was issued which stipulated maximum prices.
- There was no outsourced procurement supplier.
However, in cases of emergency and specifically in cases of disaster, a stock standard approach is to determine to which extend existing contracts can be utilized to fulfill the demand. This was validated by the National Treasury Instruction, indicating to approach existing suppliers first.
This was audited by the Auditor-General and found to be the appropriate response in line with what National Treasury issued. To note that a full audit of all PPE purchases was done by the Auditor General with not a single finding.
National Treasury Instruction 6 of 2019/20 regarding the Emergency Procurement in response to National State of Disaster was issued and Par 3.7.2 of said instruction states: “Where an institution or a provincial treasury already have a contract(s) in place for the same items listed in Annexure A, the institution must honour the contract and continue to procure from that contract.”
To note an open, competitive procurement process was followed via the Integrated Procurement Solution (for Quotation K001/20) where 401 suppliers (registered on the Western Cape Supplier Evidence Bank as well as the National Treasury Central Supplier Database) were invited to submit a quotation, and orders were placed after that process.
Tusk construction support services were the 3rd highest point scorer in terms of the Preferential Procurement Act. Orders were also placed with the companies which where the first and second highest point scorers.
The main reason why these orders were placed with Tusk Construction Support Services were due to the fact that they could supply these items immediately, whilst the other suppliers had a lead time of a month or more.
- (i) The company was appointed on 01 December 2017. The appointment is for a period of 36 months with an option to extend for a further 24 months.
(ii) The contract is concluded on a framework basis where a management fee is agreed upon in terms of the contract. The management fee of the company appointed ranges between 2.8% - 8%, depending on the value of the project.
(iii) The function of the internal procurement unit is to do procurement, contract management and to determine the policies and processes associated with that function. This includes procurement strategies, alternative delivery mechanisms, in-sourcing strategies, out-sourcing strategies, consultations with the Provincial Treasury and the implementation of the legislations regulating this function.
