The Democratic Alliance (DA) will request that the Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, and his Department appear before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts, and Culture to account for allegedly awarding a wellness intervention programme tender valued at an estimated R15 million to an advertising company.
It is hard to reconcile how a wellness tender could be awarded to a company specialising in advertising and marketing communication, with no experience in executing wellness programmes.
Our view is that the awarding of this tender is unjustifiable and is yet another example in a long list of the ANC the government’s complete disregard for procurement processes. Tenders seem to be more about finding an excuse to loot and squander money, and never about rendering actual service for which the tender had been advertised.
Furthermore, the awarding of this tender goes against the recommendations made by the Committee to the Department not to outsource services which can be performed in-house as a much cheaper price tag. Not only has the Department outsourced, but it would appear that they have also completely disregarded due processes by appointing a company that does not possess the necessary expertise.
The Minister must, therefore, account to Parliament so that we can establish the facts around the awarding of this tender. If any wrongdoing or flouting of regulations is found, the relevant authorities must take immediate action against those who have been implicated.
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