Statement on the Public Procurement Bill 2023

The Procurement Reform Working Group (PRWG) issued a statement on 11 September 2023 regarding the Public Procurement Bill [B 18-2023]. While the PRWG views the creation of a single national legislative framework as a positive step toward simplifying a system currently governed by over 100 pieces of legislation, it warns that the Bill's current draft contains critical flaws. These include ambiguous definitions of 'preferential procurement' and 'public procurement', and an over-reliance on subordinate legislation and the law-making powers of the National Treasury and Public Procurement Office rather than concrete statutory rules.

• The Public Procurement Bill [B 18-2023], introduced on 22 May 2023, aims to establish a single national legislative framework for public procurement and preferential procurement to give effect to section 217 of the Constitution.
• South Africa's current public procurement system is dysfunctional due to a complex regulatory environment consisting of more than 100 pieces of legislation, including regulations, instruction notes, practice notes, policies, "circulars", and guidelines.
• The PRWG identifies critical deficiencies in the Bill's definitions, noting that the definition of 'preferential procurement' deviates from global understandings and the definition of 'public procurement' is overly broad, encompassing financial expenditures that are not traditionally considered procurement.
• The Bill is criticized for granting excessive law-making powers to the National Treasury, the Public Procurement Office, and organs of state, which risks shifting core rules into subordinate legislation and maintaining the current state of regulatory uncertainty.
• The PRWG argues that the final Act should incorporate the principle of open contracting and establish clear procurement principles to ensure the system is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective, while supporting economic development and innovation.

APA

Public Affairs Research Institute (2023). Statement on the Public Procurement Bill 2023. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PRWG-Statement-re-Public-Procurement-Bill_11Sep23.pdf

Chicago

Public Affairs Research Institute. Statement on the Public Procurement Bill 2023. 2023. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PRWG-Statement-re-Public-Procurement-Bill_11Sep23.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Public Affairs Research Institute |title=Statement on the Public Procurement Bill 2023 |date=11 September 2023 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PRWG-Statement-re-Public-Procurement-Bill_11Sep23.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{publicaffairsresearchinstitute2023statement, author = {{Public Affairs Research Institute}}, title = {{Statement on the Public Procurement Bill 2023}}, publisher = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PRWG-Statement-re-Public-Procurement-Bill_11Sep23.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }