Tender guides for South African businesses
Straight explanations of how government procurement works here: the process end to end, what each buyer requires, and how to price and submit a bid that survives evaluation.
Getting started
How public procurement works and what you need before your first bid.
Your first government tender: what an SMME actually needs
The registrations and documents to get in place before you bid, in the order they matter, and which contracts to aim at first.
8 min read
Who buys what: a map of South African government procurement
National, provincial, municipal and state-owned buyers each run their own procurement. Knowing which one buys your service narrows the search.
7 min read
How government tenders work in South Africa
The full path a public tender takes, from advert to award, and what each stage means for the business bidding.
8 min read
The bidding process
Documents, deadlines and the compliance detail that decides awards.
Setting up tender alerts that match your business
Most alert setups fail in one of two directions. How to pick keywords and provinces that surface real work without the noise.
6 min read
Reading an invitation to tender: the returnables that decide compliance
The forms bound into a tender document, what each one is for, and the omissions that eliminate a bid before price is read.
7 min read
RFQ or tender: which process applies, and why it matters
Why some government work is quoted in five days and other work takes four weeks, and how the paperwork differs between the two.
6 min read
Reading the tender bulletin without missing a closing date
What each field in a bulletin entry actually tells you, and the three that decide whether a tender is worth opening at all.
6 min read
Buyers
What individual government buyers procure and what they require.
Public Works tenders: how the pipeline actually runs
DPWI and its provincial counterparts buy construction, maintenance and facilities services at scale. What that pipeline looks like.
6 min read
SANRAL road contracts: CIDB grading and subcontracting
SANRAL is one of the steadiest sources of construction work in the country. What grading you need and where smaller contractors fit.
7 min read
Bidding for Eskom work: where tenders appear and what Eskom asks for
Eskom buys continuously across generation, transmission and distribution. What it requires beyond the standard compliance pack.
7 min read
National Treasury: rule maker, registry and buyer
Treasury plays three separate roles in procurement. Knowing which one you are dealing with explains a lot of the paperwork.
6 min read
By sector
Pricing and compliance for the largest recurring contract categories.
Security guarding tenders: PSIRA, grading and wage costing
Guarding contracts are heavily regulated. What PSIRA requires, how officer grades affect cost, and how to build the rate.
7 min read
Pricing a government cleaning tender
Cleaning tenders are won and lost on the rate build-up. What has to be in it, and the costs first-time bidders forget.
7 min read