Cape Town - A scathing report on the use of consultants by the department of trade and industry (dti) has been tabled in parliament by auditor-general Terence Nombembe.
The report, available yesterday, lists a dozen areas where fault may be found and lists a similar number of recommendations on possible areas for improvement.
Nombembe says the department used consultants for a variety of tasks, including the development of strategies and business plans; marketing and media; conducting surveys, benchmarking, evaluations and investigations; organising functions, awards, workshops and exhibitions; and general research.
"The number of vacancies contributed to the increase in the number of consultants required to perform its functions," the report says, noting that 328 of the 1 147 posts at the department were vacant in 2005.
The auditor-general says the department's procurement procedures were not aligned with treasury guidelines for supply chain management, and even the department's own rules were not always adhered to. Hourly tariffs for consultants did not follow the guidelines established by the department of public service and administration, and consultants did not always provide for the transfer of skills to trade and industry staff to avoid the use of consultants in future.
Rules to avoid conflict of interest were not always adhered to. In 2003 the brother of Alistair Ruiters, who was the director-general from 2000 to 2005, was a director and the deputy chair of a firm tendering for work.
"An evaluation of the tender bid revealed that no declaration was made by the company regarding a conflict of interest," Nombembe says. "Information provided by the department revealed that R3.6 million was paid to the contractor for the period from July 2004 to November 2005."
Replies from the current director-general, Tshediso Matona, show that the department has taken on board the criticisms, promising to review its procurement rules and draw up a guideline on the appointment of consultants to improve skills transfer.
Possible conflicts of interests for senior managers have been listed in a database and will be considered before contracts are awarded, Matona says.
In a second report tabled at the same time, the auditor-general notes that while the timing of submission of annual reports by departments has improved, a number of other entities have fallen back.
Of the 10 constitutional, or chapter 9, institutions, only two submitted their annual statements on time, half as many as in the previous year. The gender commission and the language board still had not tabled their reports by the end of October last year, and had not provided any explanation for this failure.