Look at the tender specifications - Trevor Manuel

[Dave A]

When awarding tenders for government projects it was important not only to look at the issues of race and gender representivity, but also at the tender specifications, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday.
Speaking in the National Council of Provinces during question time, Manuel said one of the worst things he had seen was a road that was built where the contractors had met the gender and race specifications but had not met the specification of being able to construct the road. The road disappeared within two years.

While the minister did not indicate where the road had been, he said the disappearance of the road was not in the interests of the inhabitants of the area who used the road.
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Manuel also noted that he had visited the home of an Mpumalanga resident - who had received a state-subsidised home - and it was poorly constructed. It had been explained to him that it had been built by an empowered construction firm.

He said this was wrong.

"We can't do that to poor people," he said.
full story from Fin24 here

I have memories of sitting in a meeting looking at IT and data management requirements for a SETA. There were only two tenders that could meet the spec - and yet there were certain parties that were unhappy because neither were black owned. They actually wanted us to go with a tender from a company that plainly could not do the job.

[duncan drennan]

I suppose it is really an outcomes question which gets muddied by equality issues.

Main outcome: Appoint someone who can built a road that will last

Further outcome: Promote equality

Unfortunately things which aren't even relevant to the issue trying to be solved get mixed up in there. Then you start to ask which furthered the country and race equality further. If there is not road to assist children getting to school, did awarding the tender to a equity firm result in a better or worse situation for the country and for future equality?

[Marq]

Maybe the agenda is: Main outcome: Build road - Further Outcome: Build road again. In this way we generate more economic value, keep employment going, keep the rands going round and we milk the taxes again, which after all is just redistributing the wealth that the fat cats out there are stealing from us in the first place.

[Marq]

One of my duties in the business world many moons ago, was to verify the credentials of the builders, tenderers and many chancers that came in to being as a result of the governments low cost housing inititives. Needless to say I did not have many friends out there and was not in the business of attracting them either.

Then the NHBRC was formed and for a while they had our technical department do the reference checking. They just knew about building specs but not anything about companies and checking references. Already at that stage the rats were creeping back into the system that I had turfed previously.

The NHBRC decided to go it alone - we see the results today. This is nothing but a royal handshake for the "previously disadvantaged". It would appear their staff is qualified to do nothing.

I am not suprised that the houses are falling down or that the roads are falling apart but once again the real disadvantaged are being taken for a further ride.

I hope that Manual and company have seen a light that changes this view that its ok to produce bad quality services and goods at premium prices. If he can see the writing on the wall then hopefully he can change the scenario before the situation becomes irritrievable.

[Trevon]

A tender preparation is the game of mind and should be prepared by experts. It is a crucial process in carrying out the business and could prove to be a loss of great opportunity if carried out through non-professional organizations or beginners. So, it is always advised to opt for a professional tender writer for this process.

[Justloadit]

A tender preparation is the game of mind and should be prepared by experts. It is a crucial process in carrying out the business and could prove to be a loss of great opportunity if carried out through non-professional organizations or beginners. So, it is always advised to opt for a professional tender writer for this process.

The problem is not the specifications of the tender, but rather who is processing the received tenders, and then who the tender is awarded to, irrespective if they have the qualifications to do the job or not. Right now the criteria is friends and family, else BEE with a fat kick back, and if there is no one who fits the criteria, the qualified company, may get the tender, or it may be scraped, and a new tender issued, until the supposedly right crowd puts the tender in.

[AndyD]

Most of the corrupt tendering I've encountered the company awarded it has either 'connections' or kickbacks are involved. They then often sub-contract the services of a qualified company to actually do the work so they end up acting as very profitable middlemen.