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MPs question another lease

MPs on Tuesday called for further investigation into the multi-million rand lease to house the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA). The Auditor-General told Parliament's police portfolio committee the lease was not irregular, as PSIRA had followed the law when it approved the lease without putting it out to tender. “If in a specific case it is impractical to invite competitive bids, the accounting officer may procure the required goods or services by other means, provided the reason for deviating from inviting competitive bids must be recorded and approved by the accounting authority,” the AG's report said.

Police committee chairwoman Annelize van Wyk noted the AG's finding, but said she was still unhappy. “Entering into a lease agreement without going out on tender, and what is clearly an very, very expensive lease agreement coming to around R60 million over a five-year period, we have questions for PSIRA about this,” said Van Wyk. Van Wyk said while the law was not broken, she found it difficult to stomach the amount of money spent on the lease. “The AG is saying it was regular, they did all deviations the way they were supposed to... whether it was economical is a different question... that's why the committee asked the AG to look at a performance audit of renting this building.”

Van Wyk said it took nine months, from the date the old PSIRA building was condemned in November last year to August this year, when the Authority occupied the new premises. The AG's probe would take anywhere from three to six months. “Rental contracts have been reversed in the past, who knows,” Van Wyk said.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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MPs question another lease

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