LOBAMBA – Nhlanhla Nxumalo, the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Home Affairs has come out to clarify the controversy surrounding the awarding of a tender worth E46 million by the ministry to a prominent supplier.
This happened yesterday during the ministry’s appearance before Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where the ministry was required to respond to audit findings raised by Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, in his report for the financial year ended March 31, 2025.
The Ag reported that a supplier, whose name has been withheld, was engaged to provide events management services for the King’s 56th birthday celebration and garden party at a contract value of E45 437 310 without following the normal tendering process.
According to the audit findings, the company was nominated by a senior officer during a meeting held in February 2024.
Matsebula stated that the standard procurement procedure ordinarily includes inviting tenders, conducting prequalification evaluations, issuing notices for pre-qualified suppliers and inviting shortlisted companies to bid.
However, he indicated that no evidence had initially been availed to confirm that these procedures were followed. The AG further highlighted concerns raised by the minister for Finance regarding the procurement of services through an agent or third party, stating that the arrangement was contrary to the principles outlined in the Public Procurement Act of 2011.
“This is tantamount to discrimination of suppliers and the restriction of procurement activities for national events to one service provider is strictly prohibited,” stated Matsebula in the audit report.
The AG also cited Section 100(1) of the Public Procurement Regulations of 2020, which provides that the use of a single-source selection method must be justified in the overall interest of the procuring entity while ensuring economy, efficiency and fair opportunity to all eligible consultants as far as possible.
Matsebula warned that repeatedly engaging the same company for national events outside the normal procurement process exposed the ministry to risks of poor service delivery, collusion and failure to achieve value for money.
The controlling officer was consequently advised to provide reasons for nominating the company to manage the celebrations and to institute investigations into why procurement regulations and procedures had allegedly been bypassed.
Appearing before the PAC yesterday, Nxumalo defended the ministry’s actions, insisting that the procurement process followed provisions of the Public Procurement Act of 2011 relating to emergency and single-source procurement. “We must state that this service provider, when we engaged her, we followed the Procurement Act of 2011 on emergency single source,” said Nxumalo.
He explained that the ministry approached the Tender Board directly seeking approval to engage the supplier because of confidence in the company’s pricing negotiations and operational efficiency in managing large national events.
Nxumalo further stated that although the AG had initially indicated that evidence of approval could not be located, the ministry later managed to retrieve the relevant documentation and submit it to the AG. “We hear AG saying he did not see the award, it must have been misplaced since it had to pass through many hands. We found it, attached it and submitted it to his office,” he added.
The principal secretary also maintained that the contract had been vetted and that the ministry had engaged the AG regarding concerns raised about emergency procurement processes.
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