The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) approached the leaders of eight political parties – the ANC, DA, MK, EFF, IFP, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA and the PA – on the value-for-money commitments in their manifestos in the run up to the 4 November local government election.
Says IRR researcher Chris Patterson: “IRR polling shows that 8 in 10 South Africans want government to procure goods and services on a value-for-money basis. The public’s appetite for the effective, efficient and economical spending of their money is front-of-mind in the light of failing local government.”
The IRR asked each party leader to sign – and publicly commit to – the 2026 Value for Money Contract, an undertaking founded on the IRR’s #ValueForMoney Bill:
- Procurement should maximise whole-life value, considering quality, suitability, reliability, capability, risk and integrity;
- Competitive procurement should be the norm, with published evaluation methods and recorded reasons for exceptions;
- Preference mechanisms should not displace maximum value;
- Procurement records should be digitally accessible, with reasoned awards and regular reporting, and
- Suppliers should receive prompt payment through electronic invoicing.
Notably, the FF+ was the only party to meet the IRR’s 13 October deadline to sign the 2026 Value for Money Contract.
In a statement, the IRR said that while it “remains open to engaging parties on value-for-money service delivery, we are deeply concerned that transparency is being treated with such disdain less than four weeks before South Africans go to the polls to elect their councillors”.
Says Patterson: “South Africans deserve local governments who treat public money with care by buying the best goods and services they can for every rand spent.”
[Image: by denis257]