THE national travel policy
framework introduced by
Treasury last year may be illegal
as it has not yet been tested in
court.
This is according to Gerrit Davids,
lead adviser at TaranisCo Advisory.
The new regulations did away with
all TMC commissions and override
agreements, stating that TMCs
can only earn a management fee
and that any commissions that
might be paid are to be reimbursed
to government. According to the
policy, TMCs managing government
travel and events are to report
back to Treasury quarterly on all
commissions earned, to ensure
compliance.
At the time, TMCs expressed
concern about how the loss in
revenue would impact their bottom
line and affect their ability to offer
competitive prices.
Gerrit suggests that the trade may
be able to challenge the legality of
the policy.
He explained to TNW that a policy
was not considered legal until it
had been tested in court and a
judge had ruled that the policy was
constitutional.
He said that while Parliament had
ruled that Treasury may issue a
national travel policy, the policy still
needed to be tested against the
Constitution. A judge would only be
able to rule on the legality of the
policy if a TMC (or member of the
public) took government to court to
test the policy.
“It is important that this policy is
reviewed by a judge and a ruling is
made, instead of the policy being
accepted and enforced on merit.”
Gerrit also suggested that
government’s stipulation in travel
tenders that TMCs must be Asata
members in order to qualify for
the tender process could be
problematic. Section 2.1.7 of the
Constitution states that all tenders
must be fair, equitable, competitive,
transparent and cost-effective.
According to Gerrit, should a
TMC that is not an Asata member
challenge its exclusion from the
tender in court, the judge might
find that this requirement is in
contravention of the Constitution
and award the TMC the right to
apply for the tender.
Gerrit said he was concerned
that, instead of challenging the
policy in court, TMCs might be
driven to illegal behaviour in order
to protect their revenue by claiming
commission from suppliers.
