Zille's office falls foul of tender regulations, says report

The office of Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille awarded a communications tender worth a potential R1-billion to an advertising agency, without following proper procedures, the Sunday Times reported.

A contract was awarded to the agency TBWA Hunt Lascaris, to take over communications of 10 government departments in the province.

The tender was however, not publicly advertised or placed on the government tender bulletin, according to the report.

This is required by Treasury regulations.

A review by the province’s own treasury has found that the appointment of TBWA “revealed a lack of control measures and good governance principles”. The same department then endorsed the tender process, saying that the flaws amounted to a “learning experience”, indicated the report.