Mpumalanga’s Premier has highlighted several irregularities in the province’s education department’s acquisition of 22 laptops for R2 million, stating that implicated officials will face disciplinary action.
This follows the provincial government’s release of its findings this week following an investigation into the irregular tender, which saw the province acquire laptops for just over R91,000 each.
MyBroadband contacted the Mpumalanga provincial government for details about the laptops procured, such as the brand and model, but did not receive feedback before publication.
However, Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu said in a media briefing that the department accepted laptops of an inferior quality to those specified in the tender, which could have been purchased for much less.
“The department accepted the delivery of laptops that did not match the specifications of the tender,” Ndlovu said.
“Instead, the department procured laptops of similar specifications, which could have been procured for a lesser amount if due diligence had been applied.”
Ndlovu added that the adjudication bid committee had instructed the department to negotiate the price before placing the order, which it did not adhere to.
The Premier also said that the advertised tender specifics did not match those that the bid adjudication committee approved.
“The department officials irregularly specified the brand of laptops instead of the functionality required, resulting in only specific suppliers responding to the request for quotation,” Ndlovu said.
“This was advertised within the limited locality of Mbombela despite the requirement that the scope be expanded to suppliers of all brands.”
While Ndlovu did mention the intended scope of the tender, his spokesperson, George Mthethwa, told Newzroom Afrika it should have been expanded to include the entire province.
Mthethwa said that the investigation’s findings revealed that the provincial government can still recover the money paid to the supplier.
He added that over eight department officials have been implicated in the irregular tender and that all will face disciplinary action.
“The government is taking significant steps to recover the money, which could have been used to improve the lives of communities in Mpumalanga.”
“The Premier has said that disciplinary action will be instituted against the implicated officials, including the head of department, in line with the applicable legislation,” Mthwethwa said.
The spokesperson was asked whether these officials would be criminally charged to deter future corruption, but failed to respond.
Sita the scapegoat
The irregular tender was first revealed when the Mpumalanga Education MEC, Landulile Cathrine “Cathy” Dlamini, revealed that her department paid R2,020,883.45 for the laptops.
This was during a Q&A, where she told provincial MPs that her department had procured the laptops through “the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) contract“.
Dlamini highlighted this in her response to allegations that the provincial government had overlooked Project Management Unit (PMU) guidelines when sourcing the laptops.
“The department did not overlook PMU processes. These materials are not classified as LTSM — that is, learner-teacher support material — and thus should be procured through the SITA contract,” she explained.
“The beneficiaries are administrators and school managers, who use these for administration processes and not for teaching and learning.”
Mentioning SITA also shifted the blame for the high price from the Mpumalanga Provincial Government to the state-owned IT supplier.
However, SITA has hit back, explaining that Dlamini’s department had a panel of suppliers to choose from to procure the computers.
SITA said it was responsible for establishing the transversal panel (RFB740) that enables government departments to source laptops from suppliers. SITA said it does not financially benefit from it.
It explained that a transversal panel is a list of pre-approved suppliers who have been vetted and are part of National Treasury and SITA’s procurement mechanisms, ensuring compliance, competitiveness, and fair opportunity.
“We established the transversal procurement panels to build the capacity of the state, and not to destroy it,” said SITA’s head of corporate affairs, Tlali Tlali.
“We find it extremely concerning that, notwithstanding the existence of this transversal panel, which has both national and provincial reach, the department paid an outrageously exorbitant cost for those laptops.”
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