Assessing the Efficacy of Public Procurement Policy and Legal Framework To Combat Corruption in Selected Regions in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

Public procurement policies and legal frameworks play a crucial role in shaping the transparency, fairness, and integrity of government transactions. This paper examines and evaluates the effectiveness of public procurement policies and legal structures in addressing and mitigating corruption in selected regions within the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Drawing on a comprehensive review of relevant literature, case studies, and expert opinions, this research aims to provide insights into the existing framework’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements. The main emphasis of this research paper is to assess public procurement policy design and the effectiveness of measures including regulations aimed at combating corruption in the Western Cape’s public sector in South Africa. Public procurement regulations are widely implemented in various governmental institutions around the world. Data were collected from twenty-five public sector organizations in the Western Cape province, South Africa, using three data collection methods: interviews, surveys, and document analysis of procurement policies and guidelines. The study’s key findings demonstrated that a fragmented legal and policy framework is complex and opens avenues of corrupt practices and maladministration. The paper fills the gap in scholarly research by exploring how corrupt practices can be reduced by implementing and operationalising robust, flexible, and outcome-based legal and policy frameworks. This paper contributed to the body of knowledge by making policymakers and implementers aware of the pitfalls of a fragmented and misaligned policy framework in public procurement.