Section 53: Suspension, debarment and disqualification of bidders and suppliers

53. Suspension, debarment and disqualification of bidders and suppliers (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Director may, under such conditions as may be prescribed, suspend, debar or disqualify a potential bidder or supplier from participation in procurement on the following grounds— (a) supplying false information in the process of submitting a bid or pre-qualification application; (b) collusion between the bidders or a bidder and a public official concerning the formulation of any part of the bidding documents; (c) interference by a supplier with the participation of competing bidders; (d) misconduct relating to the submission of bids, including corruption, price fixing, a pattern of underpricing bids, breach of confidentiality, misconduct relating to execution of procurement contracts, or any other misconduct relating to the responsibilities of the bidder or supplier; (e) conviction of an offence relating to obtaining or attempting to obtain a procurement contract; (f) conviction of an offence related to dishonesty or fraud in his professional activity; (g) submitting a bid which contains inaccurate or inadequate information with a view to misleading a public body or the Board regarding the eligibility or responsiveness of its bid; (h) refusing, where no bid security is required, to accept an award made to it and to enter into a contract with a public body, except in a situation of force majeure; (i) repeated failure, in the performance of one or more contracts by the supplier, contractor or consultant, to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract or the specifications, as the case may be; (j) committing a material breach of contract; or (k) without the prior written approval of the public body, unlawfully assigning or subcontracting any of its obligations under a contract. P56 – 27 [Issue 10] Public Procurement Act (2) A suspension, debarment or disqualification of a bidder or supplier under subsection (1) shall not be effected unless the Director— (a) reviews and considers the factual record developed by the public body that proposes the action; (b) gives reasonable notice to the bidder or supplier involved of the basis for the proposed action; and (c) gives reasonable opportunity to the bidder or supplier to respond to the proposed action. (3) A period of suspension, debarment or disqualification under subsection (1) shall not exceed 5 years. [S. 53 amended by s. 44 (e) of Act 10 of 2017 w.e.f. 24 July 2017; s. 59 (e) of Act 11 of 2018 w.e.f. 9 August 2018.] PART IX – MISCELLANEOUS