Police vehicle crisis looms

Mmanagement fails to renew spares contract

AVEHICLE crisis looms within the South African Police Service nationally as the top brass have failed to renew a tender for parts for its fleet. This means thousands of police vehicles around the country could stand idle while management decides who to appoint as the new parts provider.

Experts have called this failure an “administrative bungle” as a result of “blatant mismanagement”.

Failure to award the tender has resulted in spare car parts not being supplied to police garages countrywide. At the Port Elizabeth police garage alone, officers say hundreds of police vehicles are awaiting parts for mechanical repairs.

The national tender for “supply and delivery of spare parts for the SAPS nationally for three years” was issued on August 9 and closed on August 29.

Authorities declined to state the value of the tender, but it is said to be a multimillion-rand deal.

One of the clerks at bid management at the police head office in Pretoria confirmed yesterday a tender still had to be reviewed by a panel before a decision could be made.

“We do not have a timeline and there is no announcement date set. I cannot tell you the value of the bid as it is only applicable to bidders,” she said.

A meeting was held on August 22 for all interested suppliers where, according to the police, nine applicants submitted documents.

The tender winner will be responsible for supplying all parts and components to all 51 713 marked and unmarked police vehicles around the country.

Provincial police spokesman Colonel Sibongile Soci said an extension was granted until September 30.

“No challenges were experienced in the procurement of spares up to and including 30 September, because the contract was still valid.”

DA shadow minister of police Dianne Kohler Barnard called it a “blatant bungle by management”.

“The police are empowering criminals by allowing this tender to expire. In the private sector, if this happened heads would roll.”

‘ I cannot tell you the value of the bid as it only applies to bidders