Bettering procurement by Central Supplier Database in the public sector: A panacea or a fallacy?

Abstract

Background: The fulfilment of customer needs is dependent on the availability and accurate selection of supplier(s). In the public sector in South Africa, Central Supplier Database is used for this purpose for the procurement up to the value of R1 000 000.00.

Aim: This article examines Central Supplier Database as a supplier search engine, with its impact in procurement process efficiency as well as customer needs satisfaction.

Setting: The study comprised of 20 participants at the nine provinces of a public sector institution in South Africa.

Methods: This article utilised simple random sampling to secure a total number of 20 participants performing a procurement function in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Qualitative data were collected through interviews and later analysed through thematic analysis.

Results: The study’s findings reflect that Central Supplier Database is open for manipulation, too open-ended, enabling suppliers to register for anything, everything and everywhere they deem fit, thus causing service delivery constraints.

Conclusion: There is an urgent need for rethinking and reengineering of Central Supplier Database for the enhancement of process efficiency and fulfilment of customer needs.

Contribution: The study contributes to the limited research on procurement utilising Central Supplier Database in South Africa. It provides insight into the history, the current state as well as the envisaged future of procurement with Central Supplier Database.