Fresh concerns over government spending and procurement oversight have emerged after Parliament heard that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) paid heavily inflated prices for food products supplied to prisons across South Africa.
During a briefing to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services on Tuesday, May 12, officials revealed shocking examples of overpricing in prison food tenders. Among the most alarming was the purchase of cooking oil at R726.57 per litre — a product that typically retails for about R29.06.Following re-negotiations with suppliers, the department said the price had since been reduced to between R26 and R29 per litre.Committee members also heard that gravy powder supplied in Gauteng had initially been priced at R3 735 before being re-negotiated down to R920.“Corrected failures are not savings”The revelations prompted sharp criticism from committee chairperson Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng, who questioned how such inflated prices were approved in the first place.“The DCS presents the renegotiated prices as savings, but the real issue is that the original prices were irrational and should never have passed internal procurement controls in the first place,” said Ramolobeng.
She warned against portraying the correction of procurement failures as financial success.“We should be cautious not to celebrate the correction of failures as achievements. If one litre of oil was initially quoted at an amount far above the ordinary market value, reducing that price later cannot be framed as prudent financial management,” she said.Ramolobeng said the situation exposed major weaknesses within the department’s procurement and supply chain management systems, raising broader concerns about accountability and the safeguarding of taxpayer money.Wide-reaching contracts under reviewThe DCS told Parliament that it had signed contracts with 115 service providers across six regions to supply both perishable and non-perishable goods to correctional facilities between April 2025 and March 2030.According to officials, several items were later identified as being priced far above market value, prompting renegotiations with suppliers.
The department is currently reviewing approximately 4,600 transactions linked to the contracts, with the process expected to be completed by June 30. Revised pricing agreements are expected to come into effect from 1 July 2026.Calls for stricter oversight, Ramolobeng also criticised the department’s description of procurement oversight processes as “cumbersome”, arguing that financial controls are a constitutional requirement rather than an administrative inconvenience.“Public finance oversight is supposed to be rigorous. The language used creates the impression that compliance is viewed as an inconvenience rather than a constitutional obligation,” she said.She further called for lifestyle audits for officials involved in procurement and supply chain management amid growing allegations of irregular expenditure and possible manipulation of contracts.“Given the scale of irregular expenditure and ongoing allegations of procurement manipulation, lifestyle audits would constitute reasonable oversight,” Ramolobeng added.
The matter has intensified public concern about transparency, corruption, and financial accountability within government departments, with calls mounting for stronger oversight and stricter consequences for procurement failures
