Treasury puts dramatic plan for preferential procurement on the table

The Treasury has drawn up far-reaching and extensive requirements to set the framework for how preferential procurement will be done by state entities and departments.

The requirements – which run into seven pages – will form part of the Public Procurement Bill, which is under consideration by Parliament. Preferential procurement is enshrined in the Constitution, which requires Parliament to make laws that will give previously disadvantaged groups an advantage in tendering for state contracts. 

The proposals were presented to the Standing Committee on Finance last Friday, the same week in which Harvard's Growth Lab identified preferential procurement as a leading cause of the collapse of state capacity.