Scopa writes to Mboweni, Mkhize calling for open vaccine tender process
On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa personally received the first consignment of a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
CAPE TOWN - Parliament’s finance watchdog Scopa has on Tuesday written a letter to the Minister of health Zweli Mkhize and Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni calling for an open tender process for vaccine storage and distribution.
The committee said corruption in personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement last year could not be allowed again.
On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa personally received the first consignment of a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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It’s a case of once bitten twice shy for Scopa when it comes to COVID-19 government spending.
The committee said the vaccine rollout should not be a repeat of last year’s PPE procurement scandals, which had over 600 dodgy contracts amounting to more than R5 billion.
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Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said they had asked the two ministers to ensure there was a transparent public adjudication of the tender processes.
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The committee has also called on the executive to ensure all normal tender processes are adhered to.
“As you recall, there’s been announcements to that effect and we also need to put in place preventative measures that will ensure that this does not fall into the realm of corruption as well,” Hlengwa said.
The committee said the public purse was already overstretched due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the South African economy and Parliament couldn't be complacent in its oversight.
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