Times Of Swaziland: HAS CTA DEFIED PM?

HAS CTA DEFIED PM?
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BY PHIWASE PHUNGWAYO on 06/12/2018 05:25:00


MBABANE - Has the Central Transport Administration (CTA) defied the prime
minister’s directive on the ban of tenders?
This question comes after the Swaziland Public Procurement Regulatory Agency
(SPPRA) issued out a tender for the hire and delivery of vehicles to companies
on its website.
The tender stipulated that the vehicles to be hired included single cabs, double
cabs, eight-seater kombis, 14/16 kombis, semi luxury coaches, full luxury
coaches, refrigerated trucks and caravans.
It is worth noting that this tender was issued after the newly-appointed Prime
Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, made a directive that the issuance of
tenders should be stopped as means to revive the fiscal crisis in the kingdom.
The tender No.12 of 2019/2020, did not specify the value of the tender. The
deadline for the tender application would be on January 18, 2019 at 9am.
Procedure
According to an impeccable source, the issuing of the tender was something they
were doing as procedure.  He said tenders had been done to ensure that there was
availability of vehicles in cases where the need to utilise them came up.
The source further stated that despite the instruction by the PM, a tender was
issued as per the normal procedure which had always been applied to hire
vehicles.
“This is done so that government can be in a position to outsource vehicles in
case visitors from outside the country came, and for the purpose of State
duties,” the source elaborated. The source further mentioned that the current
tender, which was in effect would expire on March 31, 2019. He explained that
once a tender was due, it was renewed after three months.
Meanwhile, SPPRA Chief Executive Officer Madoda Mngometulu, confirmed the
issuance of the tender.
Approve
However, when questioned as to what the purpose of issuing the tender was,
despite the prime minister’s directive to stop government from hiring, he
stated that he was not in a position to answer that as their responsibility was
to verify and not approve tenders.
“The tender has been advertised on our website because it has been screened by
the SPPRA. It was verified and was found to be in line with the laws of
procurement,” said Mngometulu.
Meanwhile, the issuing of the tender by SPPRA to hire vehicles raised
uncertainties among unions. Swaziland National Association of Teachers Secretary
General Sikelela Dlamini, expressed his disappointment on the tender as he
predicted that it would have negative impacts on the country.
“If the head of government would say one thing in Parliament but something
different happens on the ground, it clearly shows that problems will arise,”
said Dlamini.
He further stated that it would show that we had not been honest as a nation in
our utterances that our country was facing financial woes. Government
Spokesperson Percy Simelane said he was not aware of any tendering processes
that were going on. “Actually, the Press Office does not handle purchases and
tendering but government and State departments do,” said Simelane.