Cathy Damons with Theresa Soetzenberg (Treasury Department)
Some 150 business owners attended an event where they were provided with information relating to becoming a supplier of locally manufactured goods to government.
The Local Content Supplier Open Day road show was held end of November 2013 in Cape Town, George, Malmesbury and Worcester and hosted by the Provincial Treasury and the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT).
According to John van de Rheede, deputy director for business at the DEDAT, the purpose of the road shows were to provide a platform for suppliers of the Western Cape government to interact with officials regarding procurement matters.
“This year we focused on the local content requirements designated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and there was no cost for attending the event,” says Van de Rheede.
He says business owners were invited to attend the event via email. One of the recipients of the emailed invitations was Cathy Damons of Rags and Fabrics based in George.
“I was very happy with the information but I will need to check and go back through all the information and check how exactly we can benefit from it,” says Damons.
Van de Rheede says the supplier initiatives, in particular the local content supplier open day, will ensure that government, when engaging in procurement activities obtain quality goods and services and enhances supplier responsiveness to the necessary requirements.
In terms of legislation, through the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, the DTI can designate sectors in line with national development and industrial policies for local production. As a result, the National Treasury have put together a working group to drive implementation of procuring local services and manufactured goods in terms of the Local Content Requirement.
The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) was appointed as the local content verification’s agency by the DTI in September 2012. The SABS’ role as the local content verification agency is to provide training on local content requirements for provincial supply chain and municipalities and to assist the supply chain with ensuring adherence to the minimum national standards and specifications in the drafting of tender specifications.
- For more information contact the SABS 0861 277 227.