The Eastern Cape provincial government has approved a procurement plan to buy Personal Protective Equipment to fight COVID19 from manufacturers operating in the Eastern Cape, spokesperson for the Premier Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha said in a media release. This was in line with the province in line with the provincial government’s Local Economic Development Procurement Framework, he said.
“This process will ensure value for money as the provincial government will derive benefits from the economies of scale, with local manufacturers of each PPE item benefiting from government procurement,” Sicwetsha said.
The Provincial Treasury had developed a concept document outlining the procurement strategy. The process of appointing bid committee members and compiling specifications had commenced. In conjunction with the departments of Health and Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the Provincial Treasury department would co-ordinate and facilitate this procurement process.
At the start of the covid19 outbreak the provincial government participated in the national procurement process to get additional PPE needed to contain and manage the covid19 pandemic in the province.
In the newly approved plan, government will publish a tender notice on Friday, 8 May 2020 detailing types of PPE, quantities of each material required by the provincial government from Eastern Cape based factories. For cloth masks, bidding companies must be registered with the Department of Small Business Development and also be registered in the Central Supplier Database.
The provincial departments of Health, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Social Development, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Provincial Treasury, Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture and Transport have placed orders for COVID-19 related PPE items.
Other departments had indicated they had not yet procured any COVID-19 related items. As of 17 April 2020, the eight provincial departments mentioned above had procured COVID-19 related PPE items amounting to a total value of R81 195 714.35. Orders amounting to R39 901 550.52 (49.14%) have been placed with 13 Eastern Cape based suppliers.
The tender notice for the procurement of this PPE will be advertised on the Provincial Government’s eTender Bulletin (available on the Eastern Cape Provincial Treasury’s website: http://www.ectreasury.gov.za) on 8
May 2020.
