Committee calls for tighter checks on prison food prices - IOL
Kgomotso Ramolobeng, the Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services. The committee called for the Department of Correctional Services to introduce a comprehensive pricing schedule.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) must introduce a comprehensive pricing schedule before procuring perishable and non-perishable food items.
This was the suggestion that the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services made on Tuesday during a meeting with the department.
The committee heard during a presentation that renegotiations on several items, including bread, flour, assorted spices, gravy powder and pan-release oil, affected 60 suppliers under distribution and 80 suppliers under warehousing.
The committee commended the price renegotiations and cost reductions achieved under the current five-year contract for perishable and non-perishable food provisions. The contract, which took effect on 1 April 2025 and runs until 31 March 2030, involves 115 service providers delivering 66 nutritional products across all six regions.
The contracts are reviewable every six months.
The committee noted that food provisions account for more than R1.06 billion in annual expenditure, while DCS has projected an overall budget deficit of R749 million for 2026/2027.
The committee stated that the DCS should establish the reasonable market price of goods before going out to tender. The committee said this would enable officials to identify and interrogate excessive quotations before contracts are awarded, rather than only correcting inflated prices after procurement has taken place.
Committee Chairperson Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng said that formal pricing benchmarks would strengthen procurement controls and reduce the risk of inflated prices entering active contracts. She said it does not make sense for something that ordinarily costs R200 in the marketplace to be procured at R2,000.
As part of the review of its procurement strategy, the committee wants DCS to assess whether appropriate price benchmarks are in place and whether they are consistently used when bids are evaluated and approved.
The committee suggested that DCS provide a comprehensive pricing schedule of all perishable and non-perishable food items, including the prices currently being paid for each item. This will allow the committee to assess the broader procurement picture rather than focusing only on items already identified as problematic.
Ramolobeng said that DCS must strengthen internal verification processes to ensure that pricing, quantities and product specifications are correctly reflected in contracts. She cited a discrepancy involving oil, where the contract pricing referred to one litre, while the intended supply was different.
“Errors of this nature create unnecessary mistrust, particularly when they involve public funds. There must be proper verification of quantities, specifications and prices before a contract is approved and throughout its implementation,” she said.
Ramolobeng said the committee will require DCS to report on the recovery of funds paid under initial inflated rates, the status of referrals to the South African Police Service relating to suspected collusion, measures to reduce over-reliance on external consultants and consequence management where applicable.
“Price reviews during the life of a contract are important, but they cannot replace proper market research before procurement begins. The department must have a clear understanding of prevailing market prices and use that information to interrogate quotations before public funds are committed,” said Ramolobeng.
