The brand new Preferential Procurement Regulations 2017, has been finalized and was gazetted on 20 January 2017. There are some interesting changes and challenges that we will discuss during the coming months. This is the official media release from National Treasury:
The regulations were initially promulgated in 2001 and revised in 2011 thus making this the second revision since the initial promulgation.
The revision of the Preferential Procurement Regulations of 2011 was largely influenced by the need to provide for a mechanism to empower certain categories (Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) also classified as EMEs or QSEs, Co-operatives, Township and Rural enterprises) through procurement. This was an outcome of social dialogue on the New Growth Path (NGP) wherein government and social partners signed a Local Procurement Accord on 31 October 2011.To this end, commitment made by government was to leverage public procurement.
The revised regulations are also aligned to President Jacob Zuma’s pronouncement in his 2015 State of the Nation Address, wherein he said that government will set-aside 30% of appropriate categories of State procurement for purchasing from SMMEs, co-operatives as well as township and rural enterprises. Also, giving impetus to the NGP the highlights of the revision are: –
Commenting on the release of the regulations, Minister Pravin Gordhan says the regulations aim to use public procurement as a lever to promote socio-economic transformation, empowerment of small enterprises, rural and township enterprises, designated groups and promotion of local industrial development. He said this is in line with the current dialogue on inclusive economic growth in South Africa.
To learn more about this and all the other new developments regarding tenders, please attend one of our How-to-Tender workshops.
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