National Treasury CPO Kenneth Brown
National Treasury will bid farewell to first chief procurement officer (CPO) of the South African government Kenneth Brown on December 31, marking the end of his 19-year tenure at National Treasury and 34 years as a public servant.
Brown joined the department in 1998 as a deputy director and quickly rose through the ranks to become the intergovernmental relations division head until his appointment as the CPO.
“During his tenure at National Treasury, Brown has served the public service with distinction and commitment. Like a model civil servant who is not motivated by pay alone, in spite of lucrative offers from the private sector, he agreed to delay his departure until some of the reforms he had started had reached a certain level of maturity,” Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in a statement on Tuesday.
Within three years, Brown created and strengthened the office of the CPO, and led a series of key reforms aimed at elevating supply chain management in the public sector to its rightful strategic place.
Under his leadership, great strides have been made in ensuring that government continues to get value for money through increased efficiency and a reduction in wastage and corruption.
On behalf of all National Treasury staff, Gordhan thanked Brown for his sterling contribution to the reconstruction and development of post-apartheid South Africa, wishing him well in his new endeavours.