Government follows PURCO SA lead

An article on SupplyManagement.com reports that a National Treasury review of public sector supply chain management has recommended an increase in nationally negotiated contracts and greater use of strategic sourcing. The higher education sector has of course been engaged in collaborative contracting and sourcing for many years through PURCO SA. 

The National Treasury review said over the next three years the government “will accelerate the centralisation of common goods and services” and national contracting should “result in significant savings”.

Treasury has determined "a need to identify more intelligent ways for procurement to realise value for money, create opportunities and promote beneficial change” through strategic sourcing.  This is being achieved through the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer which is empowered to prescribe how goods, services and works are contracted nationally, regulate bidding and contracts and sanction non-compliance with procurement policies. 

Treasury said the public sector spent R500 billion in 2013/14 that “when spent wisely and efficiently can be a great force for good”, but that people in the public sector “do not understand the strategic importance of SCM” and the roles and responsibilities of “technical staff and political officer bearers are not clearly defined”.

Nationally negotiated contracts would be expanded to cover areas including IT, totalling R10 billion of spend a year, professional services (R12 billion), travel (R5 billion) and telecoms (R3.2 billion).

You can view the full article on www.supplymanagement.com.

PURCO SA leads the way

PURCO SA's members include all South African and Namibian public universities and their allied institutions, as well as private higher education institutions and TVET Colleges.  The consortium focuses on providing maximum benefit for its members through collaborative purchasing and professional support, and has delivered increasing value to the higher education sector.

In its 2014 annual report Chief Executive Selvan Govender reported that more than R1bn was transacted through PURCO SA negotiated contracts. These collaborative agreements unlocked savings of more than R126 million that has been invested back into academic programmes, student support and other member initiatives. 

Over the past years PURCO SA has achieved an annualised growth in collaborative spend exceeding 25% year on year. The rollout of PURCO SA Online, a higher education e-procurement platform, is expected to significantly increase procurement efficiency and savings in the sector.

PURCO SA has a comprehensive strategy to leverage higher education collaboration and professionalism. The deliverables are premised on the three pillars of Technology, Quality and Professional Development. They include ISO 9001:2008 certification, a level 1 B-BBEE accreditation, and a broader scope across public and private higher education institutions as well as a more comprehensive range of contracting areas. Among other initiatives are the PURCO SA e-procurement and travel management platform being implemented in universities across the country, the launch of a Training Academy and Video Conferencing Centre to facilitate better collaboration and deliver professional development, a recently concluded Higher Education Procurement Skills Audit in conjunction with the Chartered iInstitute of Procurements and Supply, and taking the lead in the development of a global procurement fellowship of higher education consortia.