Overview

Original Research

EXPLORING THE TECHNIQUES THAT CAN ELIMINATE IRREGULAR EXPENDITURE ON PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE KZN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

SITHEMBILE GADIOSA MKHIZE 1, and NIRMALA DORASAMY 2.

Vol 17, No 10 ( 2022 )   |  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7259863   |   Author Affiliation: Ph.D. student, Department of Public Management and Economics, Durban University of Technology (DUT) 1; Professor, Department of Public Management and Economics, Durban University of Technology (DUT) 2.   |   Licensing: CC 4.0   |   Pg no: 1361-1375   |   To cite: SITHEMBILE GADIOSA MKHIZE, and NIRMALA DORASAMY. (2022). EXPLORING THE TECHNIQUES THAT CAN ELIMINATE IRREGULAR EXPENDITURE ON PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE KZN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 17(10), 1361–1375. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7259863   |   Published on: 27-10-2022

Abstract

South Africa is confronted with critical challenges of colossal irregular expenditure on procurement and contract management in most government Departments. Non-compliance with the public procurement and contract management guidelines and non-compliance with the legislative frameworks governing public procurement and contract administration continue to critically affect the country, particularly the Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Health. This paper explores and examines the techniques that can prevent and eliminate irregular expenditure on procurement management within the KZN Department of Health. Mixed methods approaches were applied in the data collection and analysis procedures, combining both qualitative and quantitative techniques to explore and discover approaches or techniques that could assist in eliminating irregular expenditure on procurement management within the KZN Department of Health. The results of this study proved that clean audit, creation of a legal department for contracts, the establishment of positive staff ethics, improved staff attitude to work, in-service training, monitoring and evaluation, proper planning, timely review of contracts, financing capacity development, etc., are amongst the key factors to be considered in preventing and eliminating irregular expenditure on procurement management within the KZN Department of Health. Thus, this paper recommends that South Africa’s National Treasury should articulate an innovative approach for compliance with public procurement processes, regulations, laws, and standards, which is crucial in ensuring the effective implementation of government policies. In addition, the national and provincial accounting officers should strengthen ethics, integrity, transparency, and accountability in efforts to eliminate irregular expenditure within the KZN Department of Health.

Keywords

Irregular expenditure, supply chain management, procurement management, public procurement, and government policies.