From the day National Treasury set up the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), it was bound to be on a collision course with the powerful and rent-seeking patronage network of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, and politically connected business people.

The OCPO’s relentless push to root out corruption and wastage in state procurement threatened this network’s interests. Under the political management of ousted former finance ministers Nhlanhla Nene and Pravin Gordhan, the OCPO was positioned as the state’s foremost bargain hunter, mandated to negotiate contracts and introduce modern procurement methods that streamlined tendering processes, curb wasteful spending, and ultimately generate savings for the taxpayers.