1. Provincial Treasury Instruction 16A2.1.7 states that the Provincial Treasury is responsible for maintaining a credible database of suppliers for use by all provincial departments. This is the Western Cape Suppliers Database and it is a prerequisite of the WCED that all goods and service providers who wish to conduct business with the WCED register on this database in order to confirm that they comply with the legislation on preferential procurement. Goods and service providers who are not registered on the database forfeit their right to be awarded preferential points as their status has not been ratified.
2. The education district offices have the authority to procure goods and services through written quotations up to a threshold of R10 000. The district offices are at present not linked to the Electronic Procurement System (EPSi), which is commonly known as Sourcelink. Instead, they are currently required, when inviting written quotations, to request bidders to claim preference points on the Preference Points Claim Form (WCBD 6.1). This arrangement will cease as from 1 October 2011. After receiving training by Quadrem Tradeworld, all education district offices will be given access to the EPSi (Sourcelink) and they will then invite their quotations via this electronic medium up to the threshold of R30 000. If the implementation of Sourcelink in education district offices is successful, increasing the threshold to a higher amount will be considered. This will allow for a fair and transparent way of obtaining quotations. Furthermore, the goods and service providers registered on the Western Cape Supplier Database (which is integrated with the EPSi) will have their preference points automatically calculated by the EPSi and they will not have to submit points claim forms. Regulation 3(4) of the regulations promulgated in terms of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act of 2000 stipulates that only the bid scoring the highest total number of points may be accepted. When using Sourcelink, the system will automatically calculate the total number of points scored for price and achievement of the WCED's procurement goals in terms of the 80:20 points system (=/<R500 000). After deciding which offer will be accepted, the successful bidder must submit a declaration on the attached form, stating that he or she is not an employee of the state or related to an employee of the state.
3. Regulation 9 of these regulations states that, only when reasonable and justifiable grounds exist, may the bid be awarded to the bidder that did not score the highest total number of preference points. The procurement officials at education district offices and the LTSM Project Team must note that the application of this regulation is not delegated. Should an instance of this nature arise, the relevant order office must provide written justification for their deviation, for consideration by the WCED Bid Committee and a decision by the Head: Education. The purchases referred to above exclude equipment, e.g. furniture, photocopiers and fax machines, which remains a Head Office procurement function, as these purchases must be integrated with LOGIS and become part of the inventory of the WCED. Requisitions for equipment must, therefore, still be submitted to Head Office for ordering. Potential suppliers of goods and services must be encouraged to apply to Quadrem to become a subscriber to the EPSi so that they may receive requests for quotations on-line. This is subject to their paying a monthly subscription fee to Quadrem.
4. When deciding to procure goods or services, the entire need must be taken into account. A need cannot be broken up into smaller portions so as to stay within the R30 000 threshold and thereby circumvent the requirement to submit requisitions to Head Office. Reports will be drawn from the system to monitor this situation. If the total costs are estimated to be more than R30 000, those goods or services must be requested via a requisition to the Supply Chain at Head Office, for the attention of Mr RL Africa. In such cases, only the official LOG1 requisition form must be used, and this form must be completed in full. All unused lines on the form must be cancelled by drawing a horizontal and a diagonal line across the unused portion. The requisition form must be accompanied by detailed specifications. It should be mentioned that the principle of economies of scale will bring about lower costs and thus it is important that procurement must always be done in a cost effective and efficient way. The LOG 1 requisition form must be accompanied by a BAS (PGWC 002) Allocation Attachment form, reflecting the correct Standard Chart of Accounts structure (which shows where the funds for the procurement are) and the budgeted amount must be provided on the form in the appropriate space. Once the costs of the procurement have been determined after competitive quotations have been obtained, and should the cost then exceed the budget, the responsibility manager concerned will be consulted to determine if he or she has additional funds available in order to proceed with the procurement. As a general rule, such requests must be submitted to the Supply Chain at least 6 months before the goods or services are required. This will allow enough time to follow all the required processes.
5. To give effect to the consideration of offers received via Sourcelink, each education district office must submit, by no later than 31 August 2011, its nomination of at least 4 officials within the SCM and Finance Unit who will comprise the Offer Acceptance Committee at each education district office. The Deputy Director in the Corporate Services component will chair that committee. The committee will be formally approved by the Chief Financial Officer and the members will receive written notifications of appointment. All decisions of the Offer Acceptance Committee must be duly minuted and such minutes must be filed for audit purposes.
6. All members of the Offer Acceptance Committee will be required to complete the Declaration of Interest form referred to in this circular. This form must be adapted to make provision for the name of the member and the chairperson who must sign the form for each member. Such declarations must be included with each order package. Any member who declares an interest in any particular offer must recuse him- or herself from further participation in the consideration of that offer and this must be minuted.
7. The measures contained in this circular must be brought to the attention of all staff. Failure to adhere to the measures contained herein will be regarded as a breach of the supply chain principles and disciplinary measures will be instituted against any official who contravenes these requirements. SMS members must therefore institute strict monitoring and control to ensure adherence to the requirements.
8. Your co-operation will be appreciated.


SIGNED: PA VINJEVOLD
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2011:08:02

Preference Points Claim Form (WCBD 6.1)  (size: 59 KB)
Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act of 2000  (size: 22 KB)
Declaration of interest  (size: 28 KB)
Declaration of interest (WCBD 4)  (size: 36 KB)