The South African government has published a list of companies that have been awarded contracts to supply goods and services used in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.Ramaphosa said the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer had published on the National Treasury website the full list of all companies that got government contracts to provide goods and services relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This measure is unprecedented, and a clear demonstration of government’s commitment to transparency and accountability when it comes to allegations of corruption in the COVID-19 procurement process,” Ramaphosa said.

The list contains COVID-19 procurement information from all of South Africa’s nine provinces, including contracts awarded by national departments and over 70 public entities.

The move is in line with Ramaphosa’s directive on August 5 in which he asked government departments to submit full information on COVID-19 tenders to a ministerial team chaired by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola.

The publication of the list comes amid a public outcry over the abuse of the process of awarding tenders, with top-ranking ruling African National Congress and government officials allegedly found on the wrong side of the law.