Question NW343 to the Minister of Communications
14 October 2019 - NW343
Mbhele, Mr ZN to ask the Minister of Communications
What was the rationale for the implementation of the State Information Technology Agency Transversal Contract 2007/2015 for the provision of printer consumables, (b) what promotional marketing efforts were undertaken to invite prospective service providers to apply for the contract’s preferred supplier list, (c) why was sufficient opportunity not given to prospective service providers to tender for the contract, (d) why is the contract being implemented so late in its scheduled term and (e)(i) which companies are on the preferred suppliers list for the contract, (ii) in which province do they operate and (iii) what criteria were applied to select them?
Reply:
I have been advised by the SITA as follows:
(a) The rationale was to afford new service providers an opportunity to respond to the bid, new brands to be added and afford an opportunity to existing service providers to add additional provinces to their offerings.
Secondly, to get Government volume discount from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and to support the transformation in the ICT sector by developing existing and new suppliers/partners through training, certification, accreditation and SMME incubation. This includes skills transfer to partners/resellers to build skills base in the ICT sector.
(b) RFB 2007/2015 was published through an open market on 04 December 2015. The bid was published in the following platforms:
- Government Tender Bulletin
- National Treasury portal
- SITA Website
In terms of the Treasury Regulations, bids are published in Government Tender Bulletin and in any other media. So SITA website was used as an additional media for advertisement.
(c) The bid was published on 04 December 2015 and closed on 29 January 2016 and the advertisement was prior to the annual closure period. The Vendor Briefing Session was held on 10 December 2015. The minimum period for advertisement of bids is 21 days and the bid was published for more than 21 days.
(d) SCM received a tasking from the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) on the 13 November 2014. SITA embarked on extensive stakeholder consultations to ensure the strategic approach of economic transformation was all encompassing, which resulted in a delay in publishing the bid. The specification was developed by SITA and approved by DPSA. An open tender process was used for sourcing the required solution. A competitive bidding process allowed bidders in the market to participate and compete fairly.
(e) (i) and (ii) A detailed list of accredited suppliers per province and brand is attached as Annexure A
(iii) SITA evaluated RFB 2007/2015 as follows:
- Screening of mandatory documents
- Technical Evaluation
- Mandatory Requirements
- Price Evaluation/Mark up %
MS STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS
MINISTER