BY LINDELWA MYENI
MBABANE – Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi has called for government tenders to consider workers’ welfare and quality service delivery alongside cost, saying procurement decisions should ensure that companies have sufficient resources to meet labour and operational obligations.
Buthelezi said the approach would help protect workers, particularly security guards, when companies submit bids that are too low to cover wages and the costs of providing services.
He made the remarks during The Kingdom Online Network’s Public Insight Reloaded podcast, where he discussed the need for government to strengthen its procurement approach while promoting compliance with labour laws.
The Minister said some companies submit bids below the actual cost of providing a service because their main objective is to secure the tender.
“But they care less if the cost will be enough to pay the employees as per gazette,” Buthelezi said.
He said government should assess whether the amount quoted by a bidder would be sufficient to meet the gazetted minimum wage and the company’s running costs before awarding a contract.
“As government, we should look and analyse if the cost given will be enough to meet the bare minimum wage, the running costs of the company,” he said.
Buthelezi said such an assessment would help government identify bids that may be too low to support quality service delivery while meeting employment obligations.
“If the costs are seen to be below overheads to deliver quality service, they shouldn’t be awarded,” he said.
The Minister further stressed that procurement decisions should consider the ability of companies to deliver quality services while complying with labour requirements.
“We shouldn’t go for the lowest bidder all the time. If quality service we’ll get for the highest bidder, they should be awarded so that they can fairly pay employees and meet the overheads,” Buthelezi said.
He said this approach could help ensure that companies awarded public contracts have realistic financial resources to fulfil their obligations.
Buthelezi said procurement authorities should therefore look beyond price alone when evaluating bids and consider whether the proposed cost can support quality service delivery and fair treatment of employees.
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