Municipal finance
Report: How transparent is municipal procurement?
This report, released in November 2021 by the Dullah Omar Institute and International Budget Project, surveyed transparency in procurement in 49 South African municipalities.
The key findings of the report include:
- A comparison of the 2020 and 2021 survey results shows that the lack of transparency in municipal procurement has not improved. In fact, it has worsened in some respects.
- Most municipalities have functional websites with a dedicated procurement page but some websites do not have any procurement information.
- 26 of the 45 municipalities with functional websites published tender notices consistently. Only 9 of the 45 municipalities with functional websites made tender specifications freely downloadable on their websites.
- Only 6 of the 45 municipalities with functional websites published the names of successful bidders consistently and regularly.
- Only 5 of the surveyed municipalities kept tender specifications available on their websites after the tender had been awarded.
- Only 9 of the 45 municipalities with functional websites consistently published on their websites the prices of all the contracts that were awarded during the survey period.
The report advocates for open contracting and offers recommendations to enhance the transparency of local government procurement in South Africa. You can access the full report by clicking here.
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