The Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) has not yet suspended or delisted any contractor for non-performance pending the finalization and publishing of the Code of Conduct for Contractors and the submission of recommendations by Procuring Entities.
PPADB Public Relations Officer, Ditapole Tsheboeng, said they have long drafted and submitted the Code of Conduct to the Ministry of Finance and they have been told that the ministry had also sent it to the Attorney General’s Chamber for further legal assessment.
Tsheboeng said they are aware that they once promised the nation that the Code would be published by end of April 2012 of which they are still awaiting patiently.
The code will help in suspending and delisting non performing contractors but, as for now, no delisting of any contractor has been conducted.
In addition, Bridget John, PPADB’s Executive Chairperson, explains that the Ministry of Finance is believed to be having some capacity constraints and some priorities that are beyond their control and they still have to wait for them to advise on the progress.
Quizzed on when the Code of Conduct will be operational looking at the fact that some contractors continue to violate contractual obligations, John said that they have not yet delisted any contractor but it is not that they are not doing something about it. She said that the Board had started to manage the risk of awarding tenders to non-performing contractors by assessing past performance, prior to awarding tenders.
John noted that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, on the other hand, is currently in charge and is dealing with non-performing contractors and normally writes an End of Activity Report to PPADB to authorize them before they terminate contracts with the affected parties.
PPADB officials were not in a position to state how many contractors’ contracts the ministry has terminated but promised to give feedback, which we did not receive by the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, Tsheboeng said that the computerized procurement system called The Integrated Procurement Management System (IPMS) is in progress and its first phase of its implementation is to automate contractor registration.  
She noted that the development of the Contractor Registration module is complete and currently undergoing testing.
Tsheboeng said the module will present contractors with an opportunity to register online, thereby greatly reducing the cost associated with registration and that the rest of the project will be completed in early 2013.
The IPMS tender has been divided into two tenders: that is the development of the application and the provision of hardware components and services.
This is being developed by Nextenders (PVT) Ltd of India at a total cost of USD 1 000 000.00 (approximately BWP 8.5 million). This includes a 2-year support and maintenance service after the completion of the module.  
The provision of hardware services tender was awarded to Southern Business Solutions (Pty) at a total cost of USD 297,310 in September 2011, said Tsheboeng.
