Deviations from procurement processes

Requests from national departments, public entities, Constitutional institutions and provincial treasuries to deviate from standard bidding processes when procuring goods or services. Provincial institutions should direct their requests to the relevant treasuries.

1. An open bidding process is best practice to ensure that the services government receives are at a competitive price.
2. Departments/entities may request approval to deviate from standard procurement processes. The National Treasury can support, support with conditions or not support the requests.
3. An example of a deviation request is asking for permission to contract another organ of state to do the work.
4. When a department/entity requests permission to single source a supplier of a good/service, it may be justified if the supplier has exceptional skill or is the only supplier capable of delivering the good/service.
5. Deviations should be the exception rather than the norm and should not be requested frequently.

If a department or entity is frequently requesting approval to deviate from standard procurement processes, it can be an early warning sign that the procurement function is not planning its procurement adequately. It can also serve as an indication of possible poor governance practices and service delivery issues.

The quarterly deviations reports list the department/entity requesting deviations, the project description, the supplier, the value of the contract, the reason for requesting the deviation, the date that the department/entity made the request, whether Treasury supported the request and the contract start and end date. This information can be used to gain a snapshot of the procurement practices of departments/entities. The information can be analysed in conjunction with National Treasury guidelines for managing deviations, contract variations and expansions.