IGL submission on the Draft General Public Procurement Regulations, 2026
The Institute for Governance and Law (IGL) submitted comments to the National Treasury on the Draft General Public Procurement Regulations, 2026, in terms of Section 63(1) of the Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024.
The Public Procurement Regulations aim to regulate all government procurement processes while creating a framework for preferential procurement. Government procurement is essential to the effective running of the country. However, the manipulation of procurement processes is also one of the main avenues for corruption. Effective regulations for government procurement are therefore vital.
The Draft General Public Procurement Regulations do introduce measures aimed at addressing corruption through focusing on competence-based bidding and creating a unified framework. Whether the Regulations will achieve these goals remains to be seen. First, the Public Procurement Act remains subject to a constitutional challenge, which may prevent the Act and related regulations from going into effect. Second, the provisions of the Regulations are extensive, further complicating the procurement process. This leaves many aspects of the Regulations open for revision and improvement.
The IGL raised several concerns with the content of the Regulations:
The Regulations appear to allow excessive discretion and set asides, creating room for collusion and corruption. While some discretion is necessary, overuse of general language and the concept of “good grounds” could allow for the abuse of procurement processes.
The Regulations do too little to detect and prevent collusion and corruption with a greater need for transparency. The Regulations should mandate the use of digital technology to allow for automatic transparency.
Procurement committees should be established through independent and competent appointments.
There should be clear and effective consequences for failures in procurement processes to address what has become a system of impunity.
There is a need to avoid overcomplicating procurement processes with excessive or confusing regulations. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) report recently found that complicated regulations put an excessive burden on South African businesses.
Below, you will find the Cover Letter and Comments on the Draft General Public Procurement Regulations, 2026, that IGL submitted to National Treasury.
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