Despite years of regulatory reform, irregular expenditure and procurement failures continue to undermine governance and public trust in South Africa, largely because reforms have focused on compliance rather than behaviour change.
Procurement remains one of the country’s most persistent governance risks because incentives, accountability and professional capability have not kept pace with legislative reform. Public trust in the state’s procurement policies also has been severely eroded by a litany of scandals.
The Digital Vibes saga, in which a media company run by associates of then-Health Minister Zweli Mkhize was irregularly awarded a R150 million communications contract from the Department of Health during the pandemic, is among the most infamous.
Another shocking example is what transpired at Tembisa Hospital in Ekurhuleni, where the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) uncovered three coordinated syndicates, responsible for the looting of over R2 billion meant for healthcare. This sum was intended for the provision of vital services to the most vulnerable.
Some estimates suggest public procurement fraud has already cost South Africa R700 billion.
According to Paul Vos, Regional Managing Director of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Southern Africa, while legislation such as the Public Procurement Act may look impressive on paper, without real-world execution and consequences, behaviour doesn’t change.
“Many officials operate in environments where ignoring controls carries little personal risk, and ethical, value-driven procurement is not consistently rewarded,” Vos says. He adds that fragmented processes, weak institutional capability, inconsistent leadership oversight and a lack of incentive to mature procurement functions continue to expose public institutions to waste, corruption and inefficiency.
Vos says the public trust deficit is driven by a combination of negative media coverage, citizens’ lived experiences of failing infrastructure and municipal collapse, and audit findings that show little improvement year-on-year.
“When people see the same findings repeated, the same tenders questioned, and the same services failing, trust erodes. The perception becomes that procurement serves insiders rather than citizens.”
He cautions that genuine reform maturity cannot be measured by compliance alone. Instead, it requires institutional transformation that ensures procurement systems function effectively regardless of who occupies leadership positions.
True reform maturity exists when procurement decisions are transparent, outcomes are measurable, and accountability is enforced consistently, he says. “City managers and senior leadership must be fully accountable, procurement information must be accessible to civil society, and systems must be integrated, digital, and professionally managed.”
While the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) was designed to strengthen controls, in practice it can sometimes shield senior officials and slow accountability. “We need a better balance between legal protection and public transparency,” Vos says.
One of the most damaging weaknesses in the current system, Vos argues, is ineffective consequence management. Investigations are slow, enforcement is inconsistent, and political interference often blocks decisive action. “When consequences arrive years later – if they arrive at all – they have little deterrent effect,” he says. “This creates an environment where non-compliance feels low-risk.”
For consequence management to work, CIPS believes enforcement must be swift, visible, and proactive, with mechanisms that intervene during procurement processes rather than only after irregular expenditure has already occurred.
Vos stresses that preventing corruption and irregular expenditure requires urgent investment in professional capability and digital controls. Too often, untrained or seconded staff are placed into procurement roles without the technical expertise required to manage complex markets and contracts.
“Procurement is a profession, not an administrative afterthought. Deep technical skills, ethical training, and continuous professional development are essential.”
Digital procurement systems, data analytics, supplier vetting, and contract management technology are also making a measurable difference by closing manual loopholes and enabling early detection of red flags.
Despite ongoing challenges, Vos says he is cautiously optimistic that procurement can become a foundation for restoring public trust. CIPS is already working with public sector institutions that have historically faced serious procurement failures, supporting professionalisation and ethical standards.
He says over the next two years, success will be measured by a real decline in irregular expenditure, consistent consequence management, wider adoption of digital systems, and accelerated professionalisation across all levels of government. “If we stay on this trajectory, procurement can shift from being a governance liability to a cornerstone of public value and renewed trust.”