The Eastern Cape Legislature allegedly handpicked two service providers to provide audiovisual services at its plenary sittings at a cost of R85 000 per day.

The service providers were handpicked during the 2023/24 financial year and are still providing services to the legislature in Bhisho, notes a News24 report.

The legislature regressed from a clean audit during the 2022/23 financial year to an unqualified audit opinion with findings in the 2023/24 financial year.

Tabling the 2023/24 audit outcomes of national and provincial government departments in the National Assembly last week, the Auditor-General said: ‘The (Eastern Cape) legislature did not pay its suppliers within the legislated 30 days as it implemented a policy that was not aligned to legislative requirement.’

The DA's chief whip in the provincial legislature, Yusuf Cassim, said they would request an investigation into the ‘wasteful information and communication technology (ICT) expenditure’.

Cassim said: ‘In response to questions I posed in the Legislature Oversight Committee, it was confirmed that R85 000 is being spent per day, per plenary sitting, on audiovisual services because the legislature has not completed an ICT upgrade for its chamber, and without the upgrade, it has no functional audio or visual facilities.’

The secretary to the legislature, Nomawethu Ngcakani, confirmed that the legislature did not put these services out to tender but instead requested quotes and handpicked two service providers to do the job.

Full News24 report