Effectiveness of e-procurement at the Free State Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic procurement (e-procurement) at the Free State Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWIFS) Bloemfontein regional office. E-procurement is now among the most widely used means of procuring commodities, work, and services. This practice aims to maximise efficiency and effectiveness within an organisation's procurement procedures. A sample of 24 participants was selected through a purposive, convenience sampling approach. The data were collected through in-depth face-to-face focus-group discussions and were analysed by means of content analysis. The study explored the reasons for the non-usage of e-procurement and the factors affecting the implementation of e-procurement at DPWIFS. It was found that there are several inhibiting factors (challenges and disadvantages) that impact the adoption and implementation of e-procurement at DPWIFS. The study also found that there are more benefits (advantages) than inhibiting factors associated with using e-procurement. Benefits include efficiency and effectiveness, cost savings, elimination of human error, reduced transaction time, improved and accurate reporting, safer storage, and reduction of corruption and fraud. The main disadvantages were found to be lack of data security, slow internet and poor network coverage, and an increase in process complexity. The main challenges were resistance to change, power outages, information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure costs, and poor integration with existing systems. The study reveals that DPWIFS can embrace and implement e-procurement, as the benefits appear to outweigh the costs of implementation. However, the bottlenecks (inhibiting factors) need to be addressed before the implementation of the system. Implementing e-procurement would lead to a good return on investment (i.e., value for money) for DPWIFS. This system would need to be carefully created and implemented to ensure DPWIFS's growth, competitiveness, sustainability, and development.