The MMC for Finance, Jacqui Uys says Tshwane has prioritised the implementation of the e-CP to ensure that it strengthens its fight against fraud and corruption.

The Tshwane metro recently launched a new e-Commence and Procurement (e-CP) portal which aims to root out corruption.

The new portal is to ensure value for public money and make procurement processes faster and more efficient in the metro.

According to MMC for Finance Jacqui Uys, the new procurement project will digitise and automate supply chain management (SCM) processes and the implementation will be rolled out in phases over the next year.

Uys said the first phase would focus on processes aligned to supplier registration, contract management, and quotations up to R30 000.

Uys said the city has prioritised the implementation of the e-CP to ensure that it strengthens its fight against fraud and corruption.

The previous portal has now been fully migrated into the e-CP portal, which is built on the SAP Ariba platform with robust security and audit tracking measures in place.

SAP Ariba is an intelligent cloud-based management software for sourcing and procurement.

“There is a full audit trail for every aspect of the e-CP portal and automation of basic processes such as verification of suppliers and low-value procurement,” said Uys.

Uys said when a supplier registers on the e-CP portal, they will automatically be verified against the National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database and Restricted Supplier Database.

“For low-value procurement, the portal will be able to automatically notify all registered suppliers to submit quotations for a particular good or service, and then automatically evaluate submitted quotations based on set policy criteria.”

She said another feature of the portal is the contract management function, which implements robust performance tracking to check suppliers are delivering on their contract terms. If they fail, both contractors and the contracting department will be held accountable.

This includes blacklisting of suppliers and consequence management action against employees.

“The metro has sent 18 000 notices to current suppliers whose registration is in good standing to inform them of the move to the e-CP portal and how to use it.”

She said there has been extensive training of employees on how to use the new portal, which will enable quicker turnaround times for buying goods and services as part of basic service delivery.

“Implementation will be rolled out in phases over the next year with the first phase focusing on supplier registration, contract management and quotations up to R30 000.”

Uys added that subsequent phases over the next few months will include quotations of up to R750 000, and henceforth implementation will focus on digitising the full bid specification, bid adjudication, and bid evaluation processes.

She acknowledged that the city has faced scrutiny over several questionable tenders from the past. “We are now working to fix the system and clean house, particularly at Supply Chain Management.”

Furthermore, action is being taken internally against all officials found responsible for wrongdoing and corruption-related activities.

“Our coalition government will continue to champion innovation that eliminates corruption and delivers quality services to all residents,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in The Citizen.