THE Black Business Council (BBC) on Thursday expressed its dismay at the comments attributed to the acting director-general of the National Treasury, Ismail Momoniat, whom the council said sounded like he was anti-transformation.
Momoniat was quoted as bemoaning the 30% subcontracting requirement in terms of the now set-aside 2017 Preferential Procurement Regulations, the absence of a definition for “local” in the regulations and the requirement that state entities procure goods and services from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) through a local supplier.
Section 9 of the 2017 Preferential Procurement Regulations states that if it is feasible to subcontract for a contract above R30 million, an organ of the state must apply subcontracting to advance designated groups. If an organ of state applies subcontracting … the organ of state must advertise the tender with a specific tendering condition that the successful tenderer must subcontract a minimum of 30% of the value of the contract to an exempted micro enterprise (EME) or a qualifying small enterprise (QSE).
EMEs are the smallest entities, with an annual turnover of R10m or less and QSEs are those with an annual turnover of between R10m and R50m.
“The BBC would like to remind Mr Momoniat that the National Treasury, which he has been part of forever, is responsible for public procurement legislation, and its regulations and to ensure that those policy gaps in public procurement are closed. Is this a tacit acknowledgement and admission that he has failed in his job? We wonder.
“Mainstreaming the participation of black-owned companies using public procurement is key to socio-economic justice and redress, as per section 217 of the Constitution in South Africa and should be unapologetically implemented by the government and all its employees, Mr Momoniat included,” the council said in a statement.
The BBC is the over-arching confederation that represents black professionals, business associations and chambers.
