By Amy Musgrave
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has written to the KwaZulu-Natal education department demanding answers over allegations surrounding the National School Nutrition Programme.
The provincial department confirmed on Wednesday that it would respond to her as well as to KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli over claims of corruption, political interference and tender irregularities.
KZN education HOD Nkosinathi Ngcobo also said that the department would respond to bidders who were unhappy with the process.
“The department wants to place on record that it will respond to all the bidders who would have submitted their objections / appeals to the Bid Appeals Tribunal convened under the auspices of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Treasury,” he said in a statement.
Last week, education MEC Sipho Hlomuka denied allegations of political interference and personal enrichment linked to the tender.
Responding to claims made by the NSNP Service Providers Association, the MEC acknowledged past ties with a company allegedly implicated in the current tender award, but said he had divested years before taking office.
The department said on Wednesday it was issuing the statement to clarify concerns in the media that there had been irregularities in how the R2.9 billion NSNP tender has been processed.
“From the outset, it is important, that we place on record the fact that the process has been done in line with all the procurement processes and relevant prescripts,” it said.
“The process undertaken had various stages which included the advertising of the tender after which every eligible South African was at liberty to apply. It is also very important to indicate that after the advertisement of the bid, all bidders were invited to the compulsory briefing sessions in all the 12 districts, where all the bidders were taken through the requirements of the bid.”
It said all the bids received, amounting to approximately 20,000, were subjected to the same comprehensive evaluation criteria in line with all the Supply Chain Management processes.
All the bids were subjected to a standard evaluation process as set out in the bid document, and the evaluation and adjudication were followed in line with the prescribed procedures.
The department was currently at a stage where it was dealing with appeals or objections.
It said it must be noted that with regards to this tender that while attracted thousands of bidders, they were competing for 1756 clusters across the 12 districts.
“We note with disappointment that once some bidders are not recommended for the award, they resort to illegitimising the entire process,” the statement read.
However, the appeals process would afford the bidders an opportunity to raise the grievances.
The premier and minister have come under pressure from various quarters to act against Hlomuka.
INSIDE EDUCATION
