None of the close to 100 companies implicated in PPE corruption by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been blacklisted by the KZN government departments they allegedly defrauded. This is despite recommendations by the investigative body in its PPE report that more than 330 businesses found to have received contracts from government departments around the country unlawfully should be prohibited from doing business with the state.
Government departments have the legal responsibility to initiate the blacklisting process, which is then carried out by National Treasury, which lists the offending entities, their offence and the department, entity or municipality from which they benefited irregularly or unlawfully. The nature of their offence is also displayed on the list, reports the Mail & Guardian.
However, not a single KZN company among those sanctioned by the SIU for PPE procurement irregularities is among the 112 entities that have been blacklisted on the register of restricted service providers. At least one department – Social Development – believes that the responsibility of blacklisting lies with Treasury and not with its leadership, and has not initiated the process for this reason.
In the report, the SIU identified unlawful and illegal awards by the Department of Education, the Department of Social Development, the Office of the Premier and several municipalities in the province, and listed the companies involved.
Mail & Guardian article – KZN blacklisting fail lets looters off the hook (Restricted access)
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