Government tenders are advertised free on the National Treasury eTender portal, and bidding starts with one registration: the Central Supplier Database (CSD), which is free and gives you the MAAA number every submission needs. After that, winning is mostly discipline: a complete compliance pack, every SBD form filled in, the compulsory briefing attended, and a price that respects the 80/20 scoring. Here is the whole route for a first-time bidder.
Where tenders are advertised
- The National Treasury eTender portal at etenders.gov.za: the primary platform for national and provincial departments, SOEs and municipalities. Free to search by province, department, commodity or closing date.
- Municipal and departmental websites, which sometimes publish locally before eTender; check your municipality's procurement page in parallel.
- Provincial Treasury portals, and SITA for IT-specific work.
Step 1: register on the CSD
The CSD at secure.csd.gov.za is the mandatory supplier database for anyone doing business with government, and it is free. You get a MAAA number, your unique supplier reference, required on almost every tender and on your CIDB application. The CSD auto-verifies your CIPC status, SARS tax compliance, CIDB grade and B-BBEE level, and each must match your submission documents exactly.
To register: create a user account, enter your company details (CIPC number, tax reference, banking, contacts), wait 24 to 72 hours for the CIPC and SARS auto-validation, complete the CSD declaration (renewed annually), then download your CSD Supplier Summary Report and include it in every tender pack.
Step 2: assemble the compliance pack
No submission without all of these, in date:
- CSD Supplier Summary Report with an active MAAA number (annual declaration).
- SARS Tax Compliance Status (TCS) PIN (valid 12 months, or until you owe SARS).
- CIDB grading certificate in the right class (valid 3 years; see CIDB Registration and Grading).
- B-BBEE sworn affidavit (EME under R3 million) or SANAS certificate (valid 12 months; see B-BBEE for Small Contractors).
- COIDA Letter of Good Standing (renew yearly with your ROE; see COIDA and the Letter of Good Standing).
- Bank confirmation letter not older than 3 months.
- CIPC CoR14.3, certified director IDs and proof of business address (under 3 months).
- NHBRC certificate, only where the tender involves home building.
Step 3: find a tender and study the bid document
Filter etenders.gov.za by province and category (General Building, Civil Engineering and so on) and download the full bid document: terms of reference, specification, pricing schedule, the SBD (Standard Bidding Document) forms, evaluation criteria and the mandatory document list. If a compulsory site briefing is advertised, attend it and sign the register; missing it is automatic disqualification.
Step 4: price and submit
Price your bill of quantities honestly. On tenders up to R50 million the PPPFA 80/20 formula applies: price points are calculated as the lowest price divided by your price, times 80, and your B-BBEE preference points (up to 20) are added on top. Complete every SBD form: SBD 1 (invitation), SBD 4 (declaration of interest), SBD 6.1 (preference points claim), SBD 8 (past supply-chain practices) and SBD 9 (certificate of independent bid determination). Leave nothing blank, and submit before the deadline; late bids are not opened. Most tenders are free to enter, some departments charge R50 to R500 for printed documents, and results typically land 30 to 90 days after closing.
Worked example: Nandi's first tender
Nandi runs a painting and waterproofing Pty Ltd, 100% black-owned with turnover of R2.8 million, which makes her an EME on a sworn affidavit with automatic Level 1 B-BBEE. She spots a R600,000 municipal maintenance painting tender on etenders.gov.za. Her CIDB Grade 2 in the GB class (band up to R1 million) covers the value comfortably.
Her compliance pack: CSD Supplier Summary Report with live MAAA number, TCS PIN, CIDB Grade 2 GB certificate, a B-BBEE affidavit sworn within the last 12 months, a current COIDA LOGS (renewed after her 1 April to 30 June ROE filing), a bank letter from last month, her CoR14.3, certified IDs and proof of address, plus every SBD form completed. No NHBRC certificate needed: it is maintenance painting, not home building.
Scoring scenario (illustrative): the lowest compliant bid comes in at R540,000. Nandi bids R570,000. Her price points: 540,000 divided by 570,000, times 80 = 75.8. Add her 20 Level 1 preference points for 95.8 total. The lowest bidder is a Level 5 EME: 80 price points plus 8 preference points = 88. Nandi wins at a R30,000 higher price, which is the preference system working exactly as designed.
The gotchas she avoided: she attended the compulsory briefing and signed the register; she left no SBD section blank; her affidavit and LOGS were both in date on closing day; her CIDB class matched the tender (GB); her CSD record matched her CIPC and SARS details exactly; and she delivered the bid the day before the deadline rather than gambling on the final hour.
Common mistakes
- Bidding without a live CSD record. The MAAA number is the entry ticket to everything.
- An expired document in the pack. TCS PINs, affidavits and LOGS all run on 12-month clocks; diarise them.
- Skipping the compulsory briefing. Automatic disqualification, no appeal.
- A blank SBD field. Incomplete bids are rejected unread.
- Pricing to win at any cost. A 60-day-terms contract you cannot finance is worse than no contract (see Business Banking, FICA and Finance).
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