Public sector procurement as a tool of radical economic transformation with regards to black Africans: a case study of KwaZulu-Natal province.

Abstract

This research set out to examine the challenges in public sector procurement processes that hinder the effectiveness of radical economic transformation and the strategies being implemented to enhance the effectiveness of public procurement processes to enhance radical economic transformation in KwaZulu-Natal province. The study was particularly motivated by the need to examine the effectiveness of the current public procurement legal and regulatory framework in terms of enhancing radical economic transformation and to make recommendations on strategies that can be adopted to enhance the effectiveness of public procurement processes to enforce radical economic transformation. The realisation of these objectives was made possible through adopting a qualitative phenomenological research methodology and an analytical explanatory descriptive research design. This gave direction as to how data was to be collected and analysed. The chosen research methodology and research design using semi-structured interviews which was employed as a data collection tool together with the interview guide which comprised open ended questions that allowed respondents the opportunity to explain themselves in detail. Data was analysed through thematic analysis and the findings were presented using NVIVO style diagrams; which is a qualitative data analysis software. Findings show that the achievement of radical economic transformation through the public procurement policy framework in KwaZulu-Natal province is being hindered. This hindrance includes financial constraints, incapacity by black owned firms to handle large projects, inability to attract skilled labour and loss of lucrative tenders through deep-seated racial stereotyping and corruption in the award of tenders. The findings further revealed that although there were strategies (like strong internal controls), the current legal framework was largely ineffective. This is largely due to factors such as political override in tender awarding, the persistent problem of fronting and general lack of compliance with the regulatory framework. As a result, the study recommended the naming and shaming of politicians working against the spirit of radical economic transformation. The implications of these findings are that the senior management in charge of procurement in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government need to explore other ways of achieving radical economic transformation, rather than relying solely on the legislative framework.