Question NW934 to the Minister of State Security
08 June 2020 - NW934
Mulder, Dr CP to ask the Minister of State Security
(1)Whether her department awarded any tenders connected to the Covid-19 pandemic; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) are the names of the businesses to whom these tenders were awarded, (b) are the amounts of each tender awarded and (c) was the service and/or product to be supplied by each business; (2) whether there was any deviation from the standard supply chain management procedures in the awarding of the tenders; if so, (a) why and (b) what are the relevant details in each case; (3) what was the reason for which each specified business was awarded the specified tender; (4) whether she will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
(1) The department has not awarded any open tender related to Covid-19 pandemic, however, awarded 3 Purchase Orders to date for Covid-19 related personal protective equipment (PPE) and 1 Purchase Order for antivirus software for the Secure Video Conferencing Solution through quotation processes to the following companies (i) Bidvest Steiner, (ii) Inhlanhla Ga Tshwarelo, (iii) Lechoba Medical Supplies and Ubuntu Technologies.
(2) Deviation process was followed to provide Secure Video Conferencing Solution for Government on an urgent basis to allow work to continue while minimising the health risks posed by infectious Covid-19 pandemic.
(3) The reason for choosing the said Information Technology supplier is that the department already had contracts with the two companies (i) Nanoteq and (ii) TrueConf that provided infrastructure to the department on secure communications and video conferencing solutions respectively. Consequently, the department approached the two companies to increase the number of licences they were already providing to the department with a view to minimize the risk of the Covid -19 pandemic.
(4) Not at this stage