Project: Public procurement and the social economy
Partner: International Labour Organisation
Duration: 2012-2013
Budget: 630.000 euro
This programme wants to examine and test possibilities for using public procurement to stimulate the social economy in South Africa.
Unemployment is a huge problem in South Africa. The unemployment rate among young people aged between 16 and 30 exceeds 40%. There is a need for innovative solutions to the employment problem which combine social and economic objectives.
Public procurement could offer the possibility of promoting and supporting the development of the social economy sector. Worldwide, there is a growing interest in public procurement for and by the social economy sector. In South Africa there are a few cases in which focus was placed on the social economy (cooperatives) through a public tender. However, the legislation and procurement framework are insufficiently transparent and open to interpretation. Currently, public contracts are not strategically applied yet in social economy policy.
Therefore, this programme wants to examine and test possibilities for using public procurement to stimulate the social economy in South Africa. The strategy is based on a corporate development system that has already been tested by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It functions at the policy level as well as the level of implementation.
At policy level, the regulation on public procurement will be examined and clarified and proposals for adjustments will be formulated, if any. After that, the project will draw up a manual for training civil servants who are responsible for public procurement at the provincial and municipal levels.
At the level of implementation, work will be done to develop capacity within social economy businesses, so as to give them a chance in public contracts and on the market. The ultimate goal is to create jobs.
The focus sectors are agriculture (food production for schools, hospitals and other public institutions), waste treatment and other municipal, easily accessible services. In these sectors the programme will also develop models for social economy businesses which formalise and improve working conditions, as well as create opportunities for collective organisation and social dialogue.
The direct target group are national, provincial and municipal policymakers and people who are in charge of public tenders. Institutions which provide support to social economy businesses also belong to this group. The ultimate target group encompasses new (emerging) social economy businesses and their members, personnel and customers. The programme does thus not directly work with the ultimate target group, but will reach this group through the reinforcement of existing actions.
The programme is implemented by the International Labour Organisation, which will cooperate for this purpose with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DED&T) of KwaZulu-Natal. At district and municipal level, ILO will work together around the agricultural sector with the Umkhanyakude District and around municipal services and waste management with eThekwini Municipality (Durban).