Critical health services to be procured in-house

TENDERPRENEURS operating in the public health sector will soon be hurting as the ANC has decided to stop outsourcing critical services.

President Jacob Zuma announced this in Cape Town yesterday when he delivered the ANC’s January 8 statement, which outlines the party’s political agenda for the year ahead and sets the tone for government priorities.

Zuma told a packed Cape Town Stadium that critical services at public hospitals and clinics would no longer be procured from the private sector because of inefficiencies. “We support efforts to improve the security and efficiency of supply of critical services in the health sector, such as cleaning, food, laundry and others.”

The government spends billions of rands providing such services in public health facilities — but several ministers have complained that the department was being overcharged and receiving poor service delivery.

Abolishing catering and cleaning tenders could mean a return to the practice of permanent employment by the Health Department, including cleaning staff. Permanent employment took a back seat when the tender system was introduced in the late ’90s.

Although many businesses are likely to be turned on their heads, Zuma said the ANC “was committed to a South Africa where entrepreneurship can flourish”.

Turning to the judiciary, the president said transformation of the courts remained a priority for the ANC.

Those in charge of the administration of justice, especially judges, needed a “mindset” change, Zuma said.

In the past few years, the ANC has had several public spats with members of the judiciary, with secretary-general Gwede Mantashe labelling judges “counter-revolutionary” as government departments often lost court cases.

“There can be no true transformation of any system without a mindset change by the people in the system,” said Zuma.