THE Gauteng Department of Health paid R18-million for goods that were initially quoted at R5-million.

Sunday World established that the contract was given to the supplier in May without normal tender processes being followed .

In addition, the contractor imported goods from overseas that could have been sourced locally, which violates government supply chain policies.

The department approved the supply of hospital linen and patient gowns from Emperor Commodities for R5.1-million without following tender procedures.

Head of Department Ndoda Biyela, in a handwritten addendum, argued that this was because the goods were required urgently for two new hospitals: Zola-Jabulani in Soweto andNatalspruit in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni.

His note reads: "Linen supply has been an urgent requirement since November 2012 when we became aware of the shortage."

A month later, Emperor Commodities revised its bid upwards to R18.7-million.

According to the documentation Sunday World has seen, the escalation for the price - of goods imported from Pakistan - was attributed to exchange rates.

The department's own special projects directorate, a division tasked with securing linen and clothing, raised objections. These were:

That finished products were imported from Pakistan, in contravention of National Treasury rules signed by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on July 17 2012.

The rules state that "only locally produced or manufactured textiles, clothing, leather and footwear from local raw material or input will be considered" unless there is written consent from the Department of Trade and Industry.

That Emperor Commodities should supply proof that samples of its product have been quality-assured by the South African Bureau of Standards.

The department was still trying to find the copy of this proof.

That the department had previously bought linen and gowns from another supplier for the same two hospitals.

The department's spokesman, Chris Maxon, admitted that procedure was not followed in that it was not an open tender, "but all other prescripts were adhered to".

Maxon insisted that the department procured the goods from a local company .

"The procurement was on an urgent basis, hence the department contacted 10 entities that were already on the database to supply.

"To ensure that the problem does not happen again, the department established a linen bank to cater to needs of all public hospitals in the province."

But the department's documentation makes no mention of any other hospital except Jabulani and Natalspruit. It also does not mention any other company except for Emperor Commodities.

Maxon further said the price differentiation was due to a change in specification.

The department ordered 15categories of 5000 items for the R5-million and got 19categories of 5000 items each for the R18-million.

Collectively, the four additional categories (wool blanket, children's wool blanket, Turkish towel and linen bags) amount to R5.1-million.

The rest of the order, which more than doubles in price, remains.

Maxon said the urgent order comprised less than 10% of the department's linen needs.

"The urgent order constitutes only 9.4% of the planned spend on linen. The remainder is worth R180-million and will be put to tender - which closes in late October."

Emperor Commodities could not be reached for comment.

Chris Gina, deputy secretary of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu), said the allegations necessitated an investigation.

"If it is true that the department has procured imported clothing and textile products, Sactwu is very concerned," he said.

"The Department of Trade and Industry must provide the supplier with a letter of exemption stating that the products cannot be manufactured locally. We are informed by the department that this particular supplier, Emperor Commodities, has not received a letter of exemption.

"This is a serious contravention of the government's local procurement regulations.

"If it is found that noncompliance occurred, we condemn it in the strongest terms and demand appropriate action to remedy the situation."