Question NW2686 to the Minister of Basic Education
04 January 2017 - NW2686
Davis, Mr GR to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Why has the contract regarding the Kha Ri Gude Literacy Campaign been extended until September 2017 despite concerns about irregular expenditure as presented by her department to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on 23 November 2016 (details furnished)?
Reply:
The current contract with SAB&T Ubuntu was extended to September 2017 due to the fact that the campaign is coming to an end at the above mentioned date. The matter went through all departmental procurement processes and the Department was advised by its Bid Adjudication Committee that it would not be cost effective for the Department to appoint a new service provider for such a short period.
The irregular expenditure that occurred was not created by the current service provider but happened due to a disagreement between the Department and the Auditor-General on a technical point in the procurement process. The matter was then submitted to a technical team at the Auditor-General which then ruled against the Department. This matter was however addressed in a previous response to the Honourable Member.