• The Western Cape Treasury says it will publish a monthly and quarterly PPE procurement report.
• This was in the interests of "transparency"when awarding tenders during Covid-19 lockdown. 
• This comes as the Gauteng health department is embroiled in corruption claims amid an alleged irregular R125m PPE contract.

The Western Cape Treasury has announced it will be publishing monthly and quarterly reports into procurement tenders for personal protective equipment (PPE) for "transparency".

According to the province, the reports will include each transaction. It will include details such as the name of the supplier, a description of the item, the unit price per item, and the total spent from all the province's government departments.

"The first Procurement Disclosure Report details all PPE procurement and expenditure by Western Cape government departments from 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020," the provincial department of finance and economic opportunities said in a statement. 

Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier said that they considered the Procurement Disclosure Report an excellent example of transparency, and another innovative step towards maintaining clean government in the Western Cape.

This comes as the Gauteng health department has been embroiled in corruption claims after the Sunday Independent reported about an alleged irregular R125-million PPE contract awarded to individuals with close ties to senior ANC officials.   

"We have invested significant amounts of money on PPE in the fight against Covid-19 in the Western Cape, and so I am pleased that this initiative by Provincial Treasury as an important measure designed to mitigate the risks in supply chain management and ensure this money is spent correctly," said Maynier. 

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Povincial Treasury HOD David Savage described the reports as a way to enhance transparency in the supply chains by providing procurement information that is easy to access and meaningful to all interested parties and oversight bodies. 

"Other proactive support and compliance measures implemented by Provincial Treasury to mitigate procurement risks include the establishment of a Central Procurement Advisory Committee to support and advise the main procuring departments and enhanced surveillance of disaster-related procurement by internal audits of procurement transactions," said the statement.