Pretoria – The Limpopo provincial government has refuted media reports that suggest it has awarded laundry services without following proper channels.
“We view such reports as exaggerated and malicious,” the provincial government said in a statement.
In that regard, the provincial government confirms that 22 hospitals' laundry services were awarded to Mphefhedzi Business Enterprise on the basis of accreditation for a period of three years which does not translate into R2.2 million expenditure a month.
The province explained that the provincial Department of Health advertised a bid for accreditation of service providers for rendering laundry services for a period of three years.
In that regard, Mphefhedzi Business Enterprise was awarded the contract on the basis of technical evaluation, the price and preferential points scored.
According to the provincial government, the resolution to in-source laundry services in the medium to long term was taken at a workshop hosted by the Minister of Health and the Premier.
“We are committed to running a transparent and clean administration. We will not tolerate any form of corruption regardless of who is involved in it,” the provincial government said.
The provincial Health Department has a standardised specification for laundry services that have been distributed to all the CEOs of hospitals in the province.
The Seshego Hospital has deviated from these specifications in the procurement of laundry services on quotation with the current service provider.
The department has begun identifying the officials who are responsible for this non-compliance. Appropriate action will be taken against the non-complying officials.
The Provincial Treasury has already been instructed to review the bid processes followed for the award. – SAnews.gov.za
