Director-General Duncan Pieterse: South African Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems report launch

Thank you, Nicolas, and good afternoon everyone.

This event marks an important moment where South Africa joins thirty-nine other countries whose public procurement systems have also been evaluated using the MAPS international standard and universal tool.

The assessment of the procurement system was initiated by the National Treasury in 2023. The aim was to identify how the public procurement system can generate greater value for money for government, become more transparent and drive accountability.

The MAPS tool allows for benchmarking of our procurement systems against international practices and uses the outcomes to improve and strengthen the overall system.

I am thankful to the many stakeholders that participated in the assessment including development partners, organs of state, civil society, non-governmental organisations and others. The broad participation of stakeholders bodes well for the work that lies ahead to align our procurement system with international best practice.

The improvements in our procurement system are the core of enabling the public sector to deliver services economically, effectively and efficiently. Unfortunately, the current system is fraught with inefficiencies that make it uneconomical, cumbersome and open to abuse.

The MAPS assessment will contribute to the government’s efforts to reform and modernise the public procurement system. The findings and recommendations will specifically be considered in the development of regulations to the Public Procurement Act as confirmed by the Minister in his recent Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.

Now that the Public Procurement Act has been assented to law, this will resolve some of the current procurement challenges. For example, the single national regulatory framework for procurement sets the stage for better integration of public sector procurement.

However, the Act on its own is insufficient to resolve procurement challenges. The assessment, while acknowledging the significant advancements brought about by the Act, identifies several areas with gaps that we need to respond to.

The gaps are broad-based, covering legal and institutional frameworks, operations, and integrity areas. The gaps largely confirm what the National Treasury has known, what civil society organisations and others have been raising and reporting, and what the public has been experiencing.

This evidence-based process therefore provides South Africa with independent insights for strengthening its procurement system.

It is our collective commitment to earnestly consider the report, socialise it within government and develop a roadmap to implement the recommendations.

Later in the session, Mendoe, the Chief Procurement Officer in the National Treasury, will outline the process of advancing the recommendations from the assessment.

I am grateful to the development partners who heeded our call for collaboration in undertaking the assessment and have walked this journey with us.

To Paulo and the entire Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development team, Elmas and the World Bank, and Ashraf and the African Development Bank – I thank you.

Your steer and commitment have made the assessment report the more valuable given the robust findings and concrete recommendations.

As we embark on the next phase of the project by implementing the recommendations, I count on your support.

Thank you very much.