Will Treasury come to the party? – agents

AGENTS have expressed
anxiety over whether
National Treasury
intends to streamline travel
procurement processes,
particularly payment
procedures, when the new
travel policy is implemented.
“They have asked us to put
a value proposition together,
which is what they want from
us in the tender, yet there is no
point doing so when you’re not
sure if that value proposition
is aligned with government
processes,” one agent told
TNW at the tender briefing
sessions in Pretoria on July 12.
At the briefing, Treasury said
the tender would run in two
phases: in phase one Treasury
would assess submitted
proposals and then elect
a panel of an unspecified
number of TMCs who would
prequalify as potential service
providers. During the second
phase Treasury would provide
departments with new service
level agreements and a cost
template outlining the structure
of the TMC’s management
fee. Tenders would then be
awarded based on pricing and
B-BBEE ratings.
Agents said confidence that
government departments
would adhere to new SLAs
was paramount in determining
the proposed management
fee they’d submit as part of
their bids. One agent said:
“We need to know we are
quoting for an efficient
environment – currently we
spend a lot of time redoing
work and resubmitting
documents, we want to know
that this won’t become a cost
constraint for us.”
When Treasury first
announced its decision to
introduce the new government
travel policy, Treasury said
government travel procurement
processes would be in line
with the new policy by the
time it came into effect,
currently October 1.
Yet, Treasury said to agents
at the briefing: “We cannot
give you a timeline on when
that will be done, but it will
be soon. We can’t prescribe
a management fee to you
and we can’t have standard
fees throughout – we don’t
necessarily want to pay the
highest fee and we don’t want
you to undercut yourselves, but
if the business model doesn’t
work for you we ask that you
step away from the business.”
When agents had asked
about non-payments and
whether the new SLAs made
provision for penalties for
government departments that
defaulted, Treasury could only
say that the policy “was drafted
in a way that was fair for both
parties”.
 “One department owes me
R2,3m over the last two years.
They say they want to help the
little guys out yet they don’t
pay them,” another agent
told TNW.