While the number of notices on National Treasury’s eTender Portal remains at promising levels, the values and timeframes have contracted significantly in the past week.
This more cautious approach to procurement is also evident in this week’s noteworthy advertisements from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), which is hoping to take an incremental approach in the introduction and implementation of business continuity management due to “lack of capacity and budgetary constraints”.
In the department’s first tender, a suitable service provider is sought to develop its business continuity plan. The tender’s terms of reference reveal, however, that the department is still reeling from major changes that have had a serious impact on its day-to-day operations.
The first of these changes relates to the 2009 splitting of the Department of Education into the departments of basic education and higher education and training. Following that decision, the first Council of Education Ministers of the new administration had requested that the department completely take over the functions of Further Education and Training Colleges (FET) and that of what back then was known as Adult Education and Training Centres (now Community Education and Training Centres).
“On 1 April 2015, the full function shift in regards to FET and AET came into effect, resulting in major disruptions in the existing operations of the DHET, the impact of which the department continues to deal with,” it says.
Following the 2019 elections, the department experienced another significant change when government decided to reduce the number of ministries by ‘joining up’ government. This resulted in a new Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology consisting of two departments: the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Department of Science and Technology.
It is against this backdrop that the department says it deems it necessary to develop a business continuity plan that will assist it to deal with these ongoing developments, while at the same time, preparing itself for other unavoidable future eventualities.
“The idea of a business continuity plan will enable and equip the department with proactive mechanisms to anticipate risks and threats during downturns and also assist in the security of valuable data and information. The plan will also assist the organisation when it is confronted with unforeseeable interruptions or disruptions that are not limited to, but include, natural disasters, technological failures or threats of cyber attacks, human errors, terrorism, or maintenance failures,” it explains.
The desired business continuity plan will also need to address the needs of the post-education and training sector. The tender document states the plan should cover all “technical and non-technical areas of the university’s business operations, including a plan for communication, data storage and recovery, system applications, network access, institutional processes and human resources”.
In a second – closely linked – tender, the department is advertising for the provision of a bundled connectivity, backup as a service and disaster recovery as a service solution. The successful solution will be rolled out at 13 locations across the country.
Other tenders that make this week’s top 10 include:
- The Department of Trade and Industry invites bids for the renewal of its existing VMware enterprise licence agreement and conversion of the existing VMware licences to a subscription model. The department notes its licence agreement expired in October 2022, causing a procedural gap due to delays in obtaining renewed licences, maintenance and support.
Sentech wishes to appoint a panel of service providers to assist with headhunting and executive search for C-suite, executives and senior management, as well as recruitment services for technical and support staff. Successful bidders will be expected to manage the talent acquisition process, including advert placement, response handling, shortlisting, vetting, psychometric assessments, interviewing and filling vacant positions.
The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is looking for a professional service provider/consultant to help it develop a big data strategy. The agency notes information management (IM) was prioritised as a function in 2021, as part of its data-based strategic direction. The RTIA business will be anchored on IM to ensure the chosen strategic plans are informed and supported by empirical data evidence, it says. The data analytics will also ensure the RTIA responds to AARTO problems in a scientific manner.
The KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority requires a service provider to support and maintain its website, mobile application and associated services. The terms of reference state the successful bidder will be required to work with it to develop a new website and mobile app that is aligned to global best practices.
The Western Cape Department of Health is looking for proposals from ICT service providers in the pharmacy and medicines management sector on an electronic medicines management system/s for itself and its wellness facilities. It notes this information will be used to determine high-level project scope, timelines and costing to enable the department to plan for a formal procurement process, which will be managed by the State Information Technology Agency.
The Johannesburg Road Agency is advertising for the installation and configuration of a monitoring solution for the management of privileged accounts. The tender documentation is yet to be released, but the agency says the solution is to be used by the IT department to monitor the activities of administrator and tracking of user logon activities on its ICT system and applications.
Limpopo’s Office of the Premier is once again advertising for customer contact centre services for the continuation of the premier’s hotline system. This is the third time the province is publishing the tender following previous advertisements in August 2023 and February this year. No insight is provided as to why the previous advertisements were unsuccessful.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is looking for a service provider to assist it in conducting an inquiry into television subscription broadcasting services. The draft findings of its previous inquiry were published in April 2019, but following public hearings conducted in January 2021, the authority noted the rapidly-changing market development would have an impact on the final findings and therefore it resolved the consultation process must continue.
New tenders
Department of Higher Education and Training
A suitable service provider is sought to develop a business continuity plan for the department.
Non-compulsory briefing: 11 March – Virtual, Meeting ID: 377 855 675 296, Passcode: GB7SER
Tender no: DHET157
Information: E-mail: Tenders@dhet.gov.za
Closing date: 26 March 2024
Tags: Services, professional services, business continuity, disaster recovery, security
The department is also advertising for a service provider to provide connectivity, backup as a service and disaster recovery as a service for 36 months.
Non-compulsory briefing: 12 March – Virtual, Meeting ID: 381 794 937 146 Passcode: QCEB4S
Tender no: DHET159
Information: E-mail: Tenders@dhet.gov.za
Closing date: 27 March 2024
Tags: Services, telecommunications, cloud computing, backup, cloud backup, backup as a service, disaster recovery, disaster recovery as a service
Department of Trade and Industry
Bids are invited for the renewal of the existing VMware enterprise licence agreement and conversion of the existing VMware licences to a subscription model with maintenance and support for three years.
Tender no: BID dtic 05/23-24
Information: Yvette Cronje, Tel: 012 394 5762, E-mail: YCronje@thedtic.gov.za
Closing date: 22 March 2024
Tags: Software, software licensing, services, support and maintenance
Sentech
The company wishes to appoint a panel of service providers to assist with headhunting and executive search for C-suite, executives (category a) and also recruitment for technical and support staff (category b) as and when required for a three-year period.
Non-compulsory briefing: 7 March – Microsoft Teams
Tender no: SENT-066-2023-24
Information: Amukelani/Norman/Nosipho, Tel: 011 471 4590, E-mail: tendera@sentech.co.za
Closing date: 20 March 2024
Tags: Services, skills
Road Traffic Infringement Agency
The agency is looking for a professional service provider/consultant to develop a big data strategy.
Compulsory briefing: 8 March – Zoom, Link
Tender no: RFP10/2023/24
Information: Daphney Matlhoko, Tel:087 285 0500, E-mail: Daphney.Matlhoko@rtia.co.za
Closing date: 15 March 2024
Tags: Software, services, professional services, data, big data, data analysis, analytics, business intelligence, knowledge management
KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority
A service provider is required to support and maintain Tourism KwaZulu-Natal’s website, mobile application and associated services for three years.
Compulsory briefing: 11 March – Microsoft Teams, Link
Tender no: TKZN01/24
Information: Nolwazi Zuma or Thembekile Mdlophane, Tel:031 366 7500, E-mail: Tenders@zulu.org.za
Closing date: 12 April 2024
Tags: Software, applications, mobile app, app, services, support and maintenance
Department of Health, Western Cape
Proposals are invited from potential service providers in the pharmacy and medicines management sector within the ICT industry for an electronic medicines management system/s for the Western Cape Department of Health and wellness facilities.
Non-compulsory briefing: 14 March – Meeting ID: 397 312 295 897 Passcode: 9QUcQb
Tender no: WCGHSC0420/2023
Information: Rukmini Jacobs, Tel: 021 483 4515, E-mail: Rukmini.jacobs@westerncape.gov.za
Closing date: 5 April 2024
Tags: Software, medical software, medicines management
Johannesburg Road Agency
The agency is advertising for the installation and configuration of a monitoring solution for the management of privileged accounts to be used by the IT department to monitor the activities of administrator and tracking of user logon activities on its ICT system and applications for three years.
Non-compulsory briefing: 15 March
Tender no: JRA/22/93
Information: Leon Monageng, Tel:011 298 5000, E-mail: tenderenquiries@jra.org.za
Closing date: 12 April 2024
Tags: Software, privileged accounts, security
Office of the Premier, Limpopo
The province requires provision of customer contact centre services for the continuation of the premier’s hotline system for a 36-month period.
Compulsory briefing: 7 March
Tender no: PRDP 07/2023-24
Information: E Nemuhuyuni, Tel: 015 287 6000, E-mail: tenders@premier.limpopo.gov.za
Closing date:19 March 2024
Tags: Services, contact centre, call centre, outsourcing
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
A service provider is sought to assist ICASA in conducting an inquiry into television subscription broadcasting services for a period of 18 months.
Non-compulsory briefing: 11 March
Tender no: ICASA 36 -2023
Information: Bid administration office, Tel: 012 568 3629, E-mail: BidAdministration@icasa.org.za
Closing date: 20 March 2024
Tags: Services, professional services, consulting, broadcasting, subscription broadcasting
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