South Africa: Budget2018: Public Procurement Bill to give women and youth in business a leg up

22 Feb, 2018: The long-awaited Public Procurement Bill will be submitted to Cabinet in March, paving the way for black-, youth- and women-owned businesses to get larger stakes in state procurement, which runs into billions of rand. This initiative was announced by finance minister Malusi Gigaba during the budget speech on Wednesday, 21 February. In 2015-16, the government's cumulative procurement budget was projected at R600bn, and it was to be divided among more than 1,000 procurement entities - from small municipalities and metros to national departments and state-owned companies.