Tender lessons to learn

DEAR EDITOR — There are striking lessons to be learnt from the rail franchise tender recently cancelled in the UK. Richard Branson of the Virgin Group challenged the process after the tender was awarded to its rival, First Group. It turned out the transport department and so, by implication, the UK government, made serious mistakes in the procurement process.

Mistakes were made in the way passenger numbers and inflation were accounted for in the bidding process. The department has now admitted to the mistakes and the award was annulled. The tendering process will consequently have to be restarted at a future date. This will cost the UK government £40bn in refunds to bidders, according to preliminary estimates — no such thing happens in SA.

It is against this background that we must look at the theatre playing out at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (The hole gets even deeper, October 4).

Rather than working with Smit Amandla Marine — which successfully pointed out the flaws in its procurement process — it appears that the department is hellbent on doing battle with the company. This is unfortunate.

As embarrassing as the rail franchise tender has been to the UK government, it has come forward to own up to the mistakes made and is seeking a just redress for all parties — including making clear that First Group erroneously won the tender but that the company bears no blame for this. That should be the spirit in which the public and private sectors must work.

The seemingly adversarial relationship developing in the fisheries protection tender will not do the parties involved, or the country, any good. Someone needs to show leadership.