Tenders

The following legislation is applicable:

•  Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996;
• Public Finance Management Act (Act No. 1 of 1999);
• Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, 2000 (Act 5 of 2000);
• Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022;
• Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (Act 53 of 2003);
• State Information Technology Agency Act, 1998 (Act 88 of 1998);
•  Construction Industry Development Board Act, 2000 (Act 38 of 2000);
•  Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004 (Act 12 of 2004);
•  Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act 3 of 2000);
• Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act 2 of 2000); and
• any other legislation applicable to the institution’s (provincial department or public entity) supply chain management system.

Accounting officers or accounting authorities of provincial institutions must ensure that the supply chain management system is developed in accordance with the constitutional imperatives for a procurement system which is:

• fair;
• equitable;
• transparent;
• competitive; and
• cost effective.

In order to give effect to the requirements of National Treasury Regulation 16A.6.3(a) and (b), the Provincial Treasury has consolidated certain information as included in National Treasury’s Standard Bidding Documents (SBD). The bidding documents, customised with the WCBD prefix, includes the following:

• WCBD 1: Invitation to Bid and Terms and Conditions for Bidding;
• WCBD 3.1: Pricing Schedules – Firm Prices (Purchases);
• WCBD 3.2: Pricing Schedules – Non-firm Prices (Purchases);
• WCBD 3.3: Pricing Schedule (Professional Services);
• WCBD 4: Declaration of Interests, Bidders Past SCM Practices and Independent Bid Determination;
• WCBD 5: National Industrial Participation Programme;
• WCBD 6.1: Preference Points Claim Form in terms of the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022 and Codes of Good Practice;
• WCBD 6.2: Declaration Certificate for Local Production and Content for Designated Sectors;
• WCBD 7.1: Contract Form for Goods and Services; and
• WCBD 7.2: Sale of Goods.

Accounting officers and accounting authorities of provincial institutions must adhere to the following threshold values for the procurement of goods or services:

• goods or services up to an estimated value of R2000 (inclusive of all taxes) may be procured through petty cash;
• goods or services above an estimated value of R2 001 and up to R1 000 000 (inclusive of all taxes) must be procured through invitation of price quotations; and
• goods or services above the estimated value of R1 000 000 (inclusive of all taxes) must be procured through a competitive or limited bidding process.

The following are the methods of procurement:

• Petty cash purchases
• Invitation of price quotations
• Competitive bidding
• Limited bidding
• Emergency procurement
• Unsolicited bids
• Provincial transversal contracts
• National transversal contracts
• Contracts procured by other organs of state

A Supplier must:

• acquaint and up-skill themselves on procurement prescripts and bidding processes applicable to the various methods of procurement to enable them to participate in the procurement processes;
• self-register on the Central Supplier Database (CSD);
• register on the Western Cape Supplier Evidence Bank (WCSEB);
• obtain a B-BBEE certificate/sworn affidavit and complete a WCBD 6.1 to claim B-BBEE points to be housed on the WCSEB;
• complete the compulsory declaration document WCBD4 to be housed on the WCSEB;
• be Tax Compliant; and
• be in position of a credible bank account.

Please note:

• Registration on the CSD & WCSEB or to update profiles is free.

National Treasury has established the Central Supplier Database on behalf of all departments, constitutional institutions and public entities listed in Schedule 2 and 3 of the Act.

From 01 April 2016 organs of state were required to only do business with suppliers that are duly registered on the CSD.

The CSD was implemented with the intent to:

• be the single source of all supplier information for all organs of state;
• reduce the paper-based exchange of compliance documents;
• eliminate multiple registrations with different organs of state; 
• reduce the cost for both business and government by enabling electronic registration and verification processes; and
• reduce audit queries on suppliers’ compliance information.

The WCSEB is a central repository of governance documentation i.e., WCBD 4, WCBD 6.1 and BBBEE certification that is required in the procurement process. Compulsory registration on the WCSEB for procurement via the eProcurement Solution (ePS) is a policy decision taken by the Western Cape Government to maintain sound governance in respect of procurement via the system as well as to reduce red tape and ensure the ease of doing business with the Western Cape Government from a supplier perspective.  Documentary evidence of compliance are only submitted once and is valid for a year whereas in the norm it should be submitted for every tender process.

The following documents are required to register:

• SEB Registration form;
• Commodity list;
• WCBD4 for Declaration of Interest;
• WCBD6.1 for Claiming preference points for BEE status and a BBBEE affidavit or certificate (whichever is applicable).

The documentation mentioned above must be duly completed and submitted to wcseb@westerncape.gov.za for initial verification and upon confirmation that the documents are duly completed, the documents must be posted to Private Bag X9165, Cape Town, 8000 or physically sent or couriered to 2nd floor, 4 Waterford Place (SAP Building), Century City, 7441.

The eProcurement Solution is an internet-based sourcing solution utilised by the provincial departments and public entities for invitation of quotations, the receipt thereof and the adjudication of bids submitted by suppliers.

Bids

• all competitive bids above R1 000 000 must be advertised on the Government Tender Bulletin and eTender Bulletin Portal; and
• the awards of all competitive bids above R1 000 000 must be published on the Government Tender Bulletin and eTender Bulletin.

To access tenders or bids and their results, please visit the eTender Publication Portal website www.etenders.gov.za and for weekly tender bulletin please visit https://www.gov.za/documents/tender.

NOTE: Currently the Government Tender Bulletin (as managed by the Government Printing Works) as well as the eTenders Portal are experiencing technical difficulties since early February 2021.  The National Treasury has placed a generic message on the eTender portal advising suppliers of the current challenges and that provinces are required to utilise alternative media platforms to advertise Bids.

For the Western Cape Government formal bid advertisement in the interim are advertised here https://www.westerncape.gov.za/provincial-treasury/tenders/advertised-cancelled-and-awarded-tenders

Quotations

•     all prospective suppliers who wish to do business with the Western Cape Government must be registered on the CSD, the     WCSEB and the eProcurement Solution to access opportunities advertised via this medium.

WCBD 4

The WCBD 4 is a compulsory bidding document which is valid for one (1) year in the Western Cape Government and is housed on the Supplier Evidence Bank centrally for all provincial departmental utilisation. To reduce red tape the WCBD4 consolidates the standing bidding documents National Treasury Standard Bidding Documents (SBD) 4; 8 and 9. 

SBD 4: Declaration of Interest compels bidders to verify amongst others; names and identity numbers of directors, trustees, shareholders of companies, enterprises , closed corporations and trusts against relevant staff structure and whether staff are government employees or related to government employees. 

SBD 8: Declaration of Bidders Past SCM Practices empowers the accounting officer/ authority to disregard a bid if a bidder has committed fraud, abuse of the SCM system and /or has failed to perform on any previous contract. 

SBD 9: Independent Bid Determination prohibits an agreement between parties in a horizontal relationship and if it involves collusive bidding; corrupt practices, bid rigging and other fraudulent activities

WCBD 6.1 and B-BBEE certificate/affidavit

• Optional governance documents which are valid for one (1) year.
• WCBD 6.1’s validity is based on the validity period of the BBBEE certificate or affidavit.
• B-BBEE affidavit must have the date, month & year on the space for the financial year-end, e.g., 31 March 2020.
• A Commissioner of Oaths can be designated in the following ways:         

a)   By virtue of the office, they hold meaning ex officio. The minister of Justice issues a schedule of designated officials as part of the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act;

b)   A Commissioner may also be appointed by a court of law in which case they will be in possession of an appointment letter; and

c)   Member of certain regulatory boards i.e., IRBA, CA(SA), may also be designated commissioner of Oaths but such must be verified on their website.

Examples:

1. South African Police Services (SAPS)
2. Manager of the South African Post Office
3. Independent Attorney (where no conflict of interest exists)
4. Administration of Justice i.e., Clerk of the Court, Peace Officer

To note:

The commissioner must indicate the following:

• Signature
• Print his/her name, in full
• Business address
• Designation or area for which he/she holds their appointment/office help in the case of ex-officio

SAPS official, in accordance with its internal policy, must indicate:

• His/her name, in full
• Force number
• Official stamp of SAPS office where affidavit was affirmed

A supplier may only submit one (1) B-BBEE document, or a B-BBEE certificate obtained from a SANAS accredited agent or a CIPC/dtic affidavit.

Registration on the CSD and the WCSEB does not apply when procuring via petty cash; from foreign suppliers with no local registered entity; and any other entity as may be directed by the National Treasury (for CSD) and Provincial Treasury (WCSEB) from time to time.

Procurement below R1 000 000:

• CSD and WCSEB registration is compulsory.

Procurement above R1 000 000:

• The CSD registration is compulsory.
• The WCSEB registration is not compulsory.

A supplier will only be suspended on the WCSEB for an outdated WCBD 4.

• A supplier will not be suspended on the WCSEB for a non-compliant tax status.
• Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) is no longer a requirement, the supplier Tax Compliance status can be verified via CSD.

In terms of Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997:

• Minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment for fraud, theft and forgery.

In terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004:

• Imprisonment for life (High Court).
• Register for tender defaulters (National Treasury).
• Agreements terminated.
• Offenders black listed.

Fraud constitutes of the following:

• misrepresentation/providing false information;
• intent to deceive;
• prejudice or potential prejudice; etc.

Withholding information as supplier can constitute misrepresentation in terms of the following:

• failure by bidder to disclose that he/she is related to an employee of the state or that an employee of the state has a share in the bidding entity.
• failure to disclose collusion with employees of the state.
• inside information obtained about a tender.
• specifications are manipulated / collusion with employees of the state.
• manipulation of the quotation sourcing process.

The supply chain management system of the organ of state must, irrespective of the procurement process followed, prohibit any award to an employee of the state, who either individually or as a director of a public or private company or a member of a close corporation, who seeks to conduct business with the Western Cape Government, unless such employee is in an official capacity a director of a company listed in Schedule 2 or 3 of the PFMA.

Persons aggrieved by decisions made or actions taken during the implementation of the departments’ supply chain management system, may lodge within 14 days of becoming aware of the decision or action taken, a written objection or complaint against the decision or action to the accounting officer or accounting authorities.

The following limited or non-sensitive information may be revealed:

• Names of all responding Bidders.
• Lead Price of successful Bidder.
• Where applicable, the preferences claimed.
• Reasons for pass-over of the enquiring Bidder’s offer.
• Any further information may be requested by the Bidder in the context of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

Provincial Departments: Supplychainmanagement.hdpfma@westerncape.gov.za

Municipalities: Supplychainmanagement.hdmfma@westerncape.gov.za