The provincial government has identified Supply Chain Management as one of key enabler critical for service delivery as it has a direct impact on audit outcomes, the suppliers and consumers of government services. As a result, The North West Provincial Supply Chain Management (PSCM) Chief Directorate under the Provincial Treasury launched the PSCM Forum.
The forum convenes Supply Chain Management (SCM) officials from all provincial departments and entities to share best practices, challenges and solutions to the problems that each might face on a daily basis in their line of work.
Provincial Head of Provincial Supply Chain, Mr. Harry Mashao says the launch of this forum is part of what was pronounced by the 6th Administration to professionalize SCM in the province. “This is but one of the efforts and progress of what was announced by the Premier in the State of the Province Address and the MEC for Finance in her maiden Provincial Budget.
The forum aims to address many of the bottlenecks, challenges and grey areas in SCM legislation, policies and released circulars to make the procurement process as efficient and flawless as possible” he said.
Mashao says the forum will help address issues such as the 30/21-day creditor payment challenge, the use of locally manufactured material and the preferential procurement policy amongst others.
The SCM forum will ease the pressure off many SCM professionals as they will now be equipped with additional knowledge, together with training and development initiatives.
During the last quarter of 2018/19 financial year, Provincial Treasury worked with National Treasury to conduct Supply Chain Management (SCM) competency assessment of all officials in SCM units of all Departments, Public Entities and Municipalities. The aim of the exercise was to identify skills gaps and implement training and capacity building interventions. The identified capacity building intervention programs will be rolled out in the third quarter of 2019/20 financial year.
These interventions have seen about 59 SCM Practitioners from different municipalities in the province recently being enrolled into an 18-month programme, the first of its kind in South Africa, aimed at improving and turning around SCM processes to yield positive results. These practitioners will at the completion of the programme, be awarded an NQF Level 5 certificate. In addition to this, SCM Practitioners in the province have been registered with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supplies (CIPS).
Also progress to note is that the National and Provincial Treasury have finalized Supply Chain Management Framework and is already rolled out to Provincial Departments and Public Entities for implementation. The framework enforces Provincial Departments and Public Entities to have capacitated SCM units including dedicated contract management components.
The forum will convene every quarter and is expected to assist alienate identified procurement irregularities that result in negative audit outcomes.
Enquiries:
Kesalopa Gill
Tel: 018 388 3584
Cell: 078 548 6352
E-mail: kgill@nwpg.gov.za
