Concern over prison food deal

2008-08-19 17:38

Cape Town - No feasibility study was carried out ahead of a multi-million-rand contract being awarded to a BEE company to supply food to prisons, members of Parliament's correctional services portfolio committee heard on Tuesday.

The current 12-month contract - with black economic empowerment group Bosasa - was to have expired on July 31 this year, but was extended recently for a further six months.

Responding to members' questions, correctional services' chief deputy commissioner corporate services, Alfred Tsetsane, admitted there had been "gaps of non-compliance" in this regard.

Asked by committee chairperson Dennis Bloem to explain why such a feasibility study ? which is constitutionally required - was not carried out, Tsetsane replied this was now the subject of an investigation.

Four-year contract

Bloem later told Sapa his committee was extremely concerned that up until last week, the contract for the supply of food to prisons had never been put out to tender. Bosasa has supplied food to prisons since 2004.

Explaining why it was deemed necessary to contract out prison catering, deputy commissioner of development and care Subashini Moodley told members this was mainly due to a shortage of officials and overcrowding in prisons.

On the decision to extend the contract, she said a task team had been appointed earlier this year to investigate how the company was complying with its contractual obligations.

"Given that the feasibility study was not done - due to lack of expertise - and the fact that the contract was to expire [on July 31] and had to be advertised, the bid adjudication committee... approved a further extension of the contract," she said.

Power struggle

Reports of a spat between prisons head Vernie Petersen and Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour over the tender process was reported by the Sunday Times at the weekend.

The newspaper said a power struggle over "who calls the shots" when it came to decisions around the R270m-a-year food tender had contributed to the delay that caused the current contract to be extended.

Bloem said the committee was angry about the whole contract process.

Among other things, and following a question on the matter by Democratic Alliance member James Selfe, he raised the issue of regional commissioner Patrick Gillingham serving on the departmental task team currently investigating the tender issue.

Bloem stressed there might be a "conflict of interest", given that Gillingham had been "part and parcel of the [contract] process from the beginning".

Members also asked why the department was out-sourcing the supply of food to its prisons, and not using inmates to supply food and do the catering.

- SAPA