Transparency, Accountability, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in Municipal Procurement

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsor

• Business Engineering

This webinar brought together local government procurement specialists and technology practitioners to assess where South African municipalities currently stand in embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles into their procurement processes - and what it will take to move from policy to practice.

The landscape at a glance

South Africa's infrastructure has been graded a D by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering - just below average - reflecting a system under stress from climate events, governance gaps, and insufficient funding.

An independent political economy analysis identified three compounding problems: an overburdened policy framework, weak procurement practices, and insufficient infrastructure funding to meet current demands.

The consensus across all three panelists: South Africa is not yet in the middle stages of ESG integration in procurement - the country is still largely in the conceptualisation phase.

Speaker contributions

Mr. Sakhumzi Mayekiso - Local Government Procurement Specialist

Drawing on years of procurement work across South African municipalities and internationally across the SADC region, Mr. Mayekiso set the baseline for the conversation. He highlighted early pilot projects that attempted to embed environmental and social principles into social housing design - exploring green building materials, energy reduction and health outcomes - as early proof-of-concept work from around 2015.

• Larger metros such as Cape Town and Johannesburg have made meaningful progress, but the majority of municipalities are still far behind in embedding resilience and sustainability into procurement planning.
• The country lacks integrated business processes - from planning through to procurement, contracting and decommissioning - that would allow institutions to navigate the regulatory environment without being overwhelmed.
• On the circular economy: South Africa does not yet have a national strategy for recycling or repurposing materials such as solar panels, batteries and wind turbine components once their lifecycle ends. This is also a global challenge, but one that requires an urgent local response.
• On supplier readiness: the market is not yet equipped to respond to green procurement specifications at scale. Policy development has outpaced implementation capability.

"We are not in advanced stage. We are not in the middle part. We are still in the conceptualisation stage."

Ms. Thandy Pilo - CEO and Procurement Specialist, Ntakha Consulting

Ms. Pilo brought an international comparative lens to the discussion, referencing her work with procurement systems in Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya. She introduced ISO 20400 - the international guideline on sustainable procurement - as a practical starting point for South African municipalities, and challenged the sector to move from talking to doing.

• Countries like Tanzania and Ghana have reached national-level maturity in sustainable procurement. They conduct sustainability maturity assessments, have staggered implementation timelines, and use incentive structures to encourage supplier compliance - without requiring direct government investment in private companies.
• South Africa's Section 217 of the Constitution frames procurement purely around financial considerations; there is no constitutional reference to sustainability. The Public Procurement Act does however acknowledge sustainable procurement, creating an opening for action.
• Professionalization of procurement must be legislated. Kenya requires a procurement licence to practice in the public sector - both in government and as a consultant. Zambia extends this to the private sector. Without legislative backing, South Africa's efforts at professionalization will remain voluntary and inconsistent.
• Specifications, evaluation criteria and contract management processes all need to be made sustainable - not just purchasing decisions.

"Let's start. We talk a lot. We webinar a lot. We workshop and conference a lot, but we don't start."

Mr. Philip de Bruin - Managing Director, Business Engineering

Mr. de Bruin offered a technology and systems perspective, assessing where each pillar of ESG currently stands within South African municipal procurement. He also acknowledged the limitations of systems without the human capacity to use them well.

• Social: the strongest of the three pillars, with existing frameworks around economic inclusion, local labour, SME support and skills development - though the reliance on imported goods (largely from China) undermines local social objectives.
• Environment: energy-efficient equipment is gaining traction, but disposal pathways for batteries and other green technology components remain undefined. A green scorecard - modelled on the B-BBEE scorecard - would give suppliers and municipalities a structured, measurable framework to work towards.
• Governance: systems are in place and ready to incorporate ESG, but governance failures persist. Processes like MSCOA were designed to standardise and strengthen financial management, yet irregular expenditure continues. Systems alone cannot substitute for institutional will and proper process design.
• Compliance reporting on environmental and governance dimensions is currently inadequate. Municipalities need guidance on what to measure and how to report it - starting at the planning phase, not just at year-end.

"If you put a stop street in the middle of the road, people will find a way to circumnavigate that stop street."

Key takeaways for practitioners

1. Download and engage with ISO 20400 - the international guideline on sustainable procurement - as a starting framework for institutional policy development.
2. Begin with a sustainability maturity assessment at your institution. Know where you are before building towards where you need to be.
3. Develop a green scorecard for supplier evaluation - even a modest four-point allocation creates accountability and signals intent to the market.
4. Embed ESG thinking from the planning phase - not just at reporting stage. Data captured early enables better governance and accountability downstream.
5. Build sustainability into, evaluation criteria and contract management - not only into purchasing decisions.
6. The circular economy must be part of the procurement conversation: decommissioning costs, disposal pathways and material repurposing need to feature in total cost of ownership calculations.

Moderated by Mr. Zolani Zonyane, The Municipal Edge and

Hosted by: Dan Claassen, Future Cities Africa.

CPD points available - contact cpd@cigfaro.co.za