ActionSA Vows to Hold State Entities Accountable for Supplier Blacklisting Failures

ActionSA has announced it will lodge a formal complaint with the Public Protector against National Treasury over what it calls a shocking failure of consequence management in the fight against corruption. The move follows a Presidency briefing to Parliament, which revealed that of 467 individuals and companies recommended by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to be added to National Treasury’s Restricted Suppliers Register, only one has been listed. 

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Key Details and Background

• National Treasury’s Restricted Suppliers Register is intended to block individuals and companies found corrupt or implicated in misconduct from doing business with the state.
• Under the current legislative framework, accounting officers at state entities are responsible for initiating blacklisting by requesting restrictions. Treasury maintains the central database.
• Treasury previously attributed the gap between SIU referrals and actual restrictions to “the inaction of accounting officers, who failed to restrict suppliers when appropriate or who were reluctant to request restrictions unequivocally instead of tentatively recommending them.”

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Presidency and Disciplinary Tracking

• The Presidency’s tracking system shows there are 1,278 disciplinary recommendations coming from SIU investigations. Only 44 dismissals have resulted so far.
• Out of those recommendations, 370 cases are finalised; 608 are in progress; and around 300 cases have unresolved status, where organs of state have not provided updates.

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ActionSA’s Response & Allegations

• ActionSA, through MP Alan Beesley, says this reflects a systemic failure that allows suppliers and officials implicated in corruption to continue doing business with the state.
• The party holds multiple actors accountable:
1. Accounting officers at state entities (department heads, municipal managers, CEOs) for failing to submit requests for blacklisting or implementing SIU recommendations properly.
2. National Treasury for weak oversight, and for not having powers to enforce blacklisting when accounting officers do not act.
3. The Presidency for poor coordination and follow-through on SIU recommendations.
• ActionSA proposes to use parliamentary remedies and to force public accountability from the ministers, accounting officers, and the Presidency.

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Legislative & Administrative Context

• The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) require state entities to enforce procurement rules and oversee financial accountability. Failures by accounting officers may violate their fiduciary and statutory duties under these laws.
• There is recognition of “loopholes” in the blacklisting process, including overreliance on accounting officers, lack of clear enforceable mechanisms for Treasury, delays, and possibly resignations before disciplinary outcomes.
• National Treasury is reportedly working on regulations so that it may debar suppliers directly where accounting officers fail to act. This is meant to close the enforcement gap.

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Implications and What to Watch

• If only one out of 467 SIU-recommended suppliers is actually blacklisted, this undermines the purpose of the SIU investigations and erodes public trust in government’s ability to enforce consequence management.
• The fact that so many disciplinary outcomes remain in limbo raises concerns about the speed and effectiveness of internal accountability systems.
• Whether the proposed regulations will shift more power to Treasury, and whether the Public Protector finds maladministration or more serious wrongdoing, will be key for future procurement reform.

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