A Comparative Analysis of the South African Public Sector Procurement Process with Recognised Practices: A Case of Fraud Prevention Controls

Fraud is a worldwide concern and has spread throughout different divisions of the government, including the procurement division. The purpose of the study is to address fraud prevention controls available in fighting fraud in the government procurement process. The research objectives are (1) to determine the ideal public procurement process, (2) to identify weaknesses in the South African (SA) public procurement process, and (3) enhancements (controls) that can be further implemented to fight fraud in the South African public procurement process. This chapter used a thematic content analysis of extant literature on fraud prevention controls, from which an ideal public procurement process was derived, and shortcomings and enhancements identified. The articles were sorted into themes to be able to perform a comparative analysis between the normative themes from the literature and the normative requirements in South African treasury legislation. Findings revealed that the National Treasury has sufficiently implemented the available fraud prevention controls to prevent fraud in the public sector procurement process. Findings also revealed shortcomings and enhancements that the treasury legislation can take into consideration for implementation as a continuous collective effort to prevent fraud in the procurement process. The study addressed currently available controls to prevent fraud in the procurement process of the government of South Africa. It is significant to policymakers for consideration during the review and update of the procurement-related policies. Future research can focus on how corporate governance can be used to prevent fraud in the government’s procurement process.