Pretoria - The Department of Small Business Development has identified procurement opportunities for co-operatives and small enterprises that should be unlocked throughout government spheres.
Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu said all economic-cluster departments, government agencies and state-owned enterprises will negotiate and sign transversal agreements with the department to ensure Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) have access to those opportunities.
“Public sector procurement at Provincial and Local government should have local economic development strategies that take into account the needs of the existing local economy and inform procurement strategy based on a comprehensive analysis of spend,” Minister Zulu said.
Speaking on Thursday at the Procurement Indaba held in Durban, she said corruption in procurement was killing small businesses.
“Small businesses are the hardest hit by procurement corruption. Their bids or quotations get overlooked by procurement officials because they cannot afford the bribe price,” Minister Zulu said.
She said some of the small suppliers get opportunities largely on condition that they have to pay a bribe.
Minister Zulu said this was unsustainable for small businesses because they are made to pay tax twice, an official tax to SARS and plastic bag tax.
“One of the key things we must address if we want to build thriving and sustainable businesses is to confront the issue of procurement corruption head-on.
“We must caution against painting the public service as inherently corrupt. Indeed there are a few bad apples, but the vast majority of our public servants are people of integrity,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
