Thobeka Khanyisile Tricia Ngcamphalala
Abstract
Procurement spending can be up to 65% of the public sector’s budget. This emphasises the importance of procurement. Therefore, if the procurement department is not functional, the whole organisation and/or government may collapse. In the public sector, procurement is viewed as a necessary strategic development tool for promoting good governance and embedding the most effective and efficient use of public resources, resulting in improved service delivery. In South Africa, bus commuters are dissatisfied with the rendered bus services, which is a repercussion of how these services are procured, leading to old contracts, unserved routes, late coming of buses, and the use of vehicles that are unroadworthy buses. This paper seeks to highlight the key procurement challenges and the fundamental changes to be considered to better procure these services in South Africa. To achieve this, it adopts a qualitative multi-case design strategy. Twenty-two interviews were conducted across three cases, consisting of government officials (Case 1), bus operators (Case 2) and industry experts (Case 3) to solicit their views on how these services can be procured. Atlas.ti was used to analyse the data. The findings resulted in a model that summaries what the key stakeholders need to look out for when procuring the bus services in South Africa.