The study explored lack of improvement of public procurement management practices in the public sector. The main themes which the study focused on are the following; causes of non-compliance of public procurement and contracts management procedures, factors influencing the selection of appropriate procurement management processes and the main factors for poor implementation of procurement management processes in the public sector. The study aimed to identify the causes of non-compliance; determine factors influencing selection of appropriate procurement management processes, and lastly examine, the main factors leading to poor implementation of monitoring and evaluation in the public sector. The study employed a qualitative design to investigate the problem using the exploratory method. The purposive sampling method was used to select interviewees from three departments, namely, Department of Local government and Traditional Affairs, Public Works and Office of the Premier with 15 participants as a selective sample of the study. The key findings of this study indicate three main problems which are: that lack of properly understood processes of public procurement leads to poor implementation of the system together with alternative strategies of implementing the system. Shortages of skills and lack of training amongst those who get hired within the supply chain management sections or in the procurement management sections of the departments who have little understanding of holistic public procurement management in general affect selection processes. Findings also indicate lack of adequate monitoring and evaluation on procurement management. The study recommends that people who get hired in the procurement management section of these departments should have proper procurement qualifications. Regulations and rules should be made clear to all those who work in the procurement management sections in the public sector, to enable the improvement of best management practices and also to improve public procurement management practices in the public sector.

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / The study investigates the effectiveness of the Public Works Affirmative Procurement Policy in the Republic of South Africa, and the research being conducted in the Western Province. It is the intention of the researcher to determine the role of the public sector, and to determine if government's efforts to implement the policy of procurement have been successful. The aim of the Affirmative Procurement Policy was primarily to promote Affirmable Business Enterprises (ABE's i.e. small medium and micro enterprises which is owned mainly by previously disadvantaged communities or PDI's). The need to transform the public sector procurement system as current policies and procedures clearly favour large and established enterprises. In 1996 the State Tender Board approved the decision that the Department of Public Works implement the policy of APP, in all its construction projects. International models of procurement were explored, so to compare that with the current South African situation. Surveys conducted throughout the research targeted mainly previously disadvantaged individuals, in order to establish the ambiguity of the system. The countries discriminatory past laws contributed largely to the backlog of service delivery and to widespread impoverishment. Due to lack of resources, finance and skills training growth in the emerging sector hinders progress as contractors encounter numerous problems facing the industry. The introduction of the lO-point plan approved by Cabinet as a measure to achieve this goal was not fully successful as some provinces only implemented it partially whilst others have systems in place that differ from the proposal detailed in the plan. The implementation of affrrrnative procurement, which would ensure participation of, targeted groups would consequently address the development of SMME's, increase the volume of work and generate income among the marginalized sector of society.

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005. / A preliminary review of the existing public sector delivery towards sustainable employment and human resource development shows that the nature of contract awards in South Africa tends to favour more established and large enterprises. There was a need to transform the public sector procurement to respond to the changing needs of the new era in South Africa. The emergence of the affirmative procurement policy, has found a procurement environment, which does not seem to have the ability of taking the thrust of the affirmative procurement policy. Therefore there is a need to establish a system, which will provide a procurement regime, which will meet the objectives of the affirmative procurement policy. The purpose of this study is to look at the impact of the implementation of affirmative procurement policy in pre-tender stage on affirmable business enterprises within the state tender board procedures in South Africa. Implementation requires deliberate identification and removing of the structural and behavioural obstructions to change. The evidence emanating from the data obtained in the preface of the dissertation indicates very strongly that there is gap between the procurement rules of the state tender board and the developmental policies of the public sector. These findings raised concerns about the process of implementation whether will it benefit and also serve the purpose to the stakeholders such as targeted groups and small medium and micro enterprises.

The study investigated issues concerning procurement and administration in the Department of Health (DoH) in the Eastern Cape and has further investigated the role of the implementation of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), Act 1 of 1999 in the department. That included issues associated with the administration and procurement in relation to service providers from the private sector. The DoH in the Eastern Cape Province delivers:“ … a quality health service to the people of the Eastern Cape Province promoting a better life for all and ensures accessible, comprehensive, and integrated services in the province, emphasising the primary health care approach, as well as utilising and developing all resources to enable present and future generations to enjoy good health and quality of life” (Department of Health [DoH], Eastern Cape, Departmental Annual Performance Plan, 2013:3). Various researchers have investigated the implementation of the PFM Act 1 of 1999 and have identified gaps and made recommendations regarding the identified gaps. The study is based on the following reports from various authors: According to Pillay (2013), since 1994 every public sector department has lost approximately R385 billion to fraud, corruption and maladministration. Government employees have accepted kickbacks in exchange for rigging tenders, including focusing on high levels of corruption (Albert, 2011:1). The fraud and corruption in the Eastern Cape DoH, which involves nepotism, corruption and fraud amounting to a million rand in the audit report of 2013, have prompted calls by the opposition for interventions (PricewaterhouseCoopers [PWC], 2013:9). Departmental Annual Performance Plan for 2013/2014. Impact of accountability and ethics on public service delivery: a South African perspective which involves accountability stating that all government departments have to be efficient to ensure value for public funds including the qualitative and value-laden expectations of the society (Raga & Taylor, 2008:1). EC (2010:9), Audit Report: Health Department, Eastern Cape. King III Report (2009) – Corporate Governance. The study has built on previous research conducted by other researchers who have conducted research on the issue of the implementation of the Public Finance Management Act 1 (PFM Act 1) of 1999, and had identify further gaps not previously identified by other researchers or in the audits. In addition, this study aims to also identify shortcomings that have been described in the recent audits 2013/2014 of the DoH, Eastern Cape. Together with the new gaps identified in the PFM Act 1 of 1999, the researcher aims to make a number of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the implementation of the PFM Act 1 of 1999. The PFM Act 1 of 1999 was promulgated by the South African government in 1999. The Act promotes the objective of good financial management in order to maximise service delivery through effective and efficient use of available limited resources as well as credible interaction with private sector service providers. A key objective of this Act is to put in place a more effective financial accountability system over public entities. The objectives of the Act are to: Modernise the system of financial management, Enable public sector managers to manage, while at the same time being accountable, Ensure timely provision of quality information, To eliminate waste and corruption in the use of public assets.

Background and Rationale: South Africa is in its second decade of democracy. Since the introduction of democracy in 1994, the South African government and its citizens are making strides into overhauling the country to make it one of the best habitable countries in the world. All these changes are accompanied by challenges regarding the types of resources required to accomplish this when delivering services to the communities. In order for the government to accomplish this, systems and procedures which are supported by legislation and operational frameworks should be developed, implemented, monitored and reviewed when necessary. Legislation which has been developed to guide and regulate public procurement includes the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (Act 5 of 2000). The previous procurement approaches had various fallacies. For example, there was no accountability, no transparency, no equitable distribution of economic resources and no supporting structures to oversee the process. The government then realised the need for having an integrated approach towards public acquisition of goods and services. The public service should operate in an environment where there will be fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and value for money in procurement. 2 The objective of the Preferential Procurement Policy Act (Act 5 of 2000) is to give effect to section 217(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996). Section 217 (3) stipulates that national legislation must prescribe a framework within which the procurement policy may be implemented. Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (Act 5 of 2000) aims at redressing the past racial imbalances, where race and gender were used to control productive resources. In order to address the shortfalls of the previous systems which failed to provide equal competition opportunities to all the people of South Africa, the mandate, as stipulated in the amended Section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), has been implemented. This section calls on government and organs of the state to apply a preference point system to enhance and give preference to the historically disadvantaged individuals or designated groups, who in the past, were victims of unfair discrimination on the basis of race, gender or disability. The Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (Act 5 of 2000) and its related regulations and systems emanate from Section 217 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, (Act 108 of 1996). The government has, since 1995, started engaging in a number of initiatives with the purpose of restructuring the procurement. One of the initiatives was the development of the Green Paper on Public Sector Procurement Reform in South Africa in 1997. This paper is a discussion document which contains various proposals aimed at achieving the objectives of good governance, developing and utilising the country’s human resources potential to the full, and encouraging a well-developed and competitive business sector (http://www.info.gov.za/greenpapers/1997/publicproc.htm). 3 Subsequent to the Green Paper on Public Sector Procurement Reform the government published the Preferential Procurement Regulations in 2001, in terms of Section 5 of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework. The government’s aim was to elicit contributions and discussions from role- players and interested parties. These inputs are crucial in a country that is committed to democracy. It can be deduced that the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework is a tool that is intended to provide direction and guidance to public officials when they engage in the acquisition of goods and services whilst giving leverage and preference to those who have been victims of the past imbalances. There is a perception that business opportunities favour individuals and businesses that are well established and the emerging business owners are marginalised. The reforms in the procurement processes that have been put in place are intended to ensure that there is equality, transparency and accountability in the allocation of business opportunities. Preference has to be afforded to the previously marginalised people to play a role in the public sector procurement and enhance income generation. The aims of the Preferential Procurement will be defeated if there are no systems to control and monitor the engagement of historically disadvantaged individuals. The affirming of such business owners should be viewed as a tool for the distribution of wealth, job creation and a poverty alleviation strategy from the side of government. The rationale for the research, therefore, is to establish whether the historically disadvantaged individuals’ lives are improving and bringing about sustainable economic development in their lives.

When the African National Congress (ANC) took office in 1994 it introduced various policies that would govern budgetary and financial reforms in South Africa. The main objective was to modernize the management of the public sector. Even though government Departments have started implementing the Supply Chain Management strategies, there are still some challenges and deficiencies that hinder appropriate implementation. The key research objectives of the study is to investigate and evaluate the implementation of Supply Chain Management in service delivery with specific focus in procurement processes of goods and services in the Eastern Cape Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs This study has demonstrated perceptions in the implementation of Supply Chain Management (SCM) within the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The overwhelming majority of participants have shown dissatisfaction with the implementation of SCM. Service providers argue that there is no opportunity for them to develop as Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) and only those service providers who are fully developed benefit from SCM. The study intends to establish and highlight the challenges that the Eastern Cape Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs is presently faced with in regard to implementation procurement processes among staff members, managers and service providers This study is mainly qualitative but also exposes the reader to the quantitative research method

As part of the on going financial management reforms, the South African Government introduced the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Framework. Since 2004, The Eastern Cape Provincial Government embarked on a process of ensuring that procurement reforms wrought by the advent of SCM are seamlessly ushered in. Information Technology (IT) and systems are a sine qua non in supporting the implementation of the SCM Framework. However, IT does not operate in a vacuum. Many other factors complement, supplement and influence the objectives sought through the use of Information Technology and systems. It is the confluence of this factors that eventually will determine that success or failure of using technology to support procurement reforms in government. The research investigates the factors affecting the success of the Information systems underlying SCM in the Eastern Cape Provincial government. Data for the research was gathered using a questionnaire administered to all Eastern Cape Provincial Government departments. The research borrows from Heeks’ ITPOSMO model in assessing SCM and Information Systems structures and processes and gauging their state of readiness to embrace procurement reforms envisaged through the SCM Framework. Because of the importance of having a strong IT functional unit in any government department, the study highlights IT issues that typically confront IT managers, especially in the public sector. Heeks’ ITPOSMO model emerges as a sufficient framework for identifying gaps that currently exist between the reality and perceptions on the readiness of IT to adequately support government procurement reforms. The dissertation concludes that the success of the system is dependent not only on the technological component of the system, but also on other factors.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of administrative intervention in Supply Chain Management in the Department of Education in Limpopo. This was done with the aim of looking into the strategies that were put in place during the intervention process and to examine whether the strategies have yielded the desired results of stabilising the department’s finances and averting the possible collapse of essential services. Qualitative data were collected, primarily in the form of semi-structured interviews using an interview schedule consisting of both closed and open-ended questions with the Chief Financial Officer, General Manager (SCM), Senior Manager (SCM), Manager Demand and Acquisition, six Supply Chain Management Practitioners, and two members of the Intervention Task Team. All these officials provided sufficient information related to the effect of the administrative intervention in the SCM of the Limpopo Department of Education. The study found that there were a number of strategies that were put in place by the members of the Intervention Task Team during the intervention process, such as : • Catering not exceeding R50.00 per person has to be provided only for meetings with external stakeholders and this provision only applied to meetings that take longer than five hours; • Promotional items such as t-shirts, caps, bags, etc., were not to be purchased by the department; • Engagement of consultants was also reduced to the minimal and it was only allowed where the department does not have the requisite skills or resources in its full time employ to perform the assignment in question; and • Trips by vehicles were to be optimised to reduce costs. However, the strategies that were put in place by the Intervention Task Team in the Supply chain management did not yield the desired results of stabilising the department’s finances and averting the possible collapse of essential services. Limpopo Department of Education continued to get an undesirable disclaimer audit iii opinion for the fourth consecutive year and the findings depicted poor administration and inability to comply with the treasury regulations.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to assess transparency in Supply Chain Management (SCM) at local government. The case study of eThekwini Municipality as an institution at the local sphere of government was used to explore the objectives of the study. Fundamentally, institutions such as municipalities and municipal entities, by virtue of being the closest to the people, play an important role of rendering basic services that are aimed at improving living standards of local communities. Therefore, purchasing of goods and/ or services through SCM should strictly comply with specific legislation, policies and regulations which are implemented to achieve standard norms and principles in execution of these duties. One of these requirements is achieved by adhering to transparency in procurement processes. Ultimately, adherence to the principle of transparency in SCM results to openness in decision-making and integrity of the entire process. In this study, these considerations were explored at eThekwini Municipality’s SCM and qualitative analysis of secondary data against SCM legislation, policies and regulations were extensively investigated to establish the extent to which the SCM processes had adhered to transparency. The findings of the analysis as primarily guided by the Auditor-General’s (AG’s) audit outcomes since the launch of “Operation Clean Audit” established that the municipality had not received a clean audit during the period of review from the 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 financial years. The findings pointed to a number of issues regarding SCM irregularities, exceptionally high irregular expenditure (with a net regression of 12% in the financial year 2010/2011), abuse of contract deviations, failure of the accounting officer to give reasons in writing for irregular expenditure and non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations. This state of affairs had led to the municipality making a prognosis of the internal issues which placed them at risk. These issues informed the development of a strategy to implement austerity systemic and financial management measures to mitigate the identified risks. The findings of the study concluded that the importance of adherence to transparency results in sound decision-making, promotes access to information to the public and other stakeholders, increases integrity of processes, and prevents opportunities of fraud and maladministration. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is uitgevoer om deursigtigheid te evalueer in Voorsieningskettingbestuur op plaaslike regering. Die gevallestudie van eThekwini Munisipaliteit as 'n instelling op die plaaslike vlak van regering is gebruik om die doelwitte van die studie te verken. Fundamenteel speel instansies soos munisipaliteite en munisipale entiteite ‘n belangrike rol in die lewering van basiese dienste wat gemik is op die verbetering van lewensstandaarde van plaaslike gemeenskappe, omdat hulle die naaste aan die mense is. Daarom moet die aankoop van goedere en / of dienste deur Voorsieningskettingbestuur streng voldoen aan spesifieke wetgewing, beleid en regulasies wat geïmplementeer is om standaard norme en beginsels in die uitvoering van hierdie pligte te bereik. Een van die vereistes kan aan voldoen word deur deursigtigheid in die verkryging prosesse. Uiteindelik sal die nakoming van die beginsel van deursigtigheid in Voorsieningskettingbestuurdie openheid in besluitneming en integriteit van die hele proses tot gevolg hê. In hierdie studie, was die oorwegings ondersoek by die eThekwini Munisipaliteit se Voorsieningskettingbestuur en ‘n kwalitatiewe analise van sekondêre data teen Voorsieningskettingbestuur wetgewing, beleid en regulasies was intens ondersoek om die mate waarin die Voorsieningskettingbestuur prosesse voldoen het aan deursigtigheid, te bepaal. Die bevindinge van die analise was hoofsaaklik gelei deur die Ouditeur-Generaal se oudituitkomste sedert die bekendstelling van "Operasie Skoon Oudit ", en dit het gewys dat die munisipaliteit nie 'n skoon oudit gehad het gedurende die tydperk van die hersiening van die 2009/2010 tot 2011/2012 finansiële jaar nie. Die bevindinge het gewys op 'n aantal kwessies rakende Voorsieningskettingbestuur ongerymdhede, buitengewoon hoë onreëlmatige uitgawes (met 'n netto agteruitgang van 12 % in die finansiële jaar 2010/2011), die misbruik van kontrak afwykings, nalating van die rekenpligtige beampte om redes te gee vir die afskryf van onreëlmatige uitgawes en nie- nakoming van die toepaslike wette en regulasies. Hierdie toedrag van sake het daartoe gelei dat die munisipaliteit 'n prognose gemaak het van die interne kwessies wat vir hulle ‘n risiko was. Hierdie kwessies het gelei tot die ontwikkeling van 'n strategie om sistemiese en finansiële bestuur maatreëls in te stel om die geïdentifiseerde risiko's te verminder. Die bevindings van die studie dui daarop dat die nakoming van deursigtigheid lei tot gesonde besluitneming, bevordering van toegang tot inligting aan die publiek en ander belanghebbendes, en dat dit die integriteit van prosesse verhoog, en geleenthede vir bedrog en wanadministrasie voorkom.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Expenditure on South African public sector projects is vital to infrastructure development and creating employment opportunities in the country. The submission of tenders by contractors is the traditional procurement method utilised in awarding contracts. The traditional tender procurement method is not only costly, but the lowest-bid method does not ensure that the eventual project at completion is the most cost effective. Although regulatory frameworks are in place to ensure that public sector projects are awarded to suitable contractors, there are numerous examples of public sector projects that have been awarded to incompetent contractors. The traditional tender procurement method is non-collaborative in its composition, as the contractors executing the work are not part of the design team. Furthermore, industry stakeholders’ perceptions influence procurement method preferences. This research project investigates whether the tender procurement method is best suited to meet the South African public sector’s requirements and achieve infrastructural development so desperately required, or whether it needs to be replaced in its entirety or adapted.