- Introduction and Background
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) contributes to South Africa’s sustainable
development by facilitating access to biodiversity data, generating information and knowledge,
building capacity, providing policy advice, and showcasing and conserving biodiversity in its national
botanical and zoological gardens. The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (NBG) hosts the
Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts and a New Year’s Eve concert annually drawing visitors to
the garden.
The Summer Sunset Concerts are held every year on Sunday afternoons from November until the
end of March. The garden has a permanent outdoor concert stage and a 7 000m2 lawn with a
maximum seating capacity of 6 000 people. The concerts are attended by an average of 4 200
visitors per concert. The concerts feature top South African and international musicians performing
a wide variety of music, ranging from Afro-soul to electronic, pop, jazz, rock and classical.
The Kirstenbosch concert stage canopy has been in use for over 25 years and collapsed during a
storm and the steel frame cannot be repaired. The Kirstenbosch NBG needs to rent a temporary
concert stage tunnel canopy for the next three years.
All potential service providers are encouraged to submit a proposal for the supply, installation, signoff
and dismantling of a temporary concert stage tunnel canopy at the Kirstenbosch NBG. The
temporary concert tunnel canopy must consider the current stage’s footprint, comply with all health
and safety regulations and temporary structure design codes, look aesthetically appealing, and have
an approved engineering certificate, issued by the supplier, for local municipality permit approvals.
The scope of work includes the inspection and signing off, by the structural engineer/technologist, of
the various speaker towers, screen towers, crowd safety barriers, front of house platform and desk,
and a seating stand. It is anticipated that the temporary concert tunnel canopy will be erected for the
full duration of each concert season, from the beginning of November to the end of March, for the
next three years.
The aim of this Terms of Reference is to ensure that all professional service providers invited to
tender, submit proposals based on the same understanding of the project.
- Open Tender
Tenders are hereby invited for the appointment of a service provider for the rental of a concert stage
tunnel canopy each year, from the beginning of November to the end of March, for a period of three
years at the Kirstenbosch NBG, Cape Town.
The tender process will be co-ordinated by SANBI’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) department,
contactable at the following address:
Deputy Director: Supply Chain Management
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
Private Bag X101
Silverton
0184
The tender closes on 15 September 2026 at 11:00
- Briefing Session and Site Inspection
A compulsory site briefing session will take place on site on 8 September 2026 at 11:00 in the Old
Mutual Conference Hall at the Kirstenbosch NBG, Cape Town. Bidders are encouraged to direct
all technical and bidding procedure enquiries to the email addresses below:
Responses will be communicated via email.
SCM queries: Supply Chain Management
Email: [email protected]
Technical queries: Infrastructure Division
Email : [email protected]
Cut-off date for enquiries: 11 September 2026 at 11:00
The purpose of this Terms of Reference is to procure a service provider for the rental of a concert
stage tunnel canopy at the Kirstenbosch NBG, Cape Town each year, from the beginning of
November to the end of March, for a period of three years.
The scope of work is per the following but not limited to:
- Provide the design including drawings and sketches of the proposed temporary concert stage
tunnel canopy, refer to Figure 3 for the expected aesthetic look and feel of the temporary
concert stage tunnel canopy.
- Include the provision of standard safety barriers to be used around the base of the five
speaker towers.
- Include all transportation, erection of concert stage tunnel canopy, signoff, including
engineering certificates for local municipality, weekly inspections and dismantling.
- Provide a Health & Safety file for approval that must be updated for the duration of each
concert season.
- Any modifications to the existing stage i.e. demolition of existing walls, must be taken into
consideration by bidders and any structural modifications required on the concert stage must
be included in the pricing schedule.
- The structural integrity of the concert stage tunnel canopy must be inspected on a regular
basis for the duration of each concert season, and resources must be available to assist with
any issues that could arise during concerts.
- The concert stage tunnel canopy must be fully erected and signoff by the bidder’s structural
engineer/technologist by the beginning of November and fully dismantled by end of April for
each year.
- Additional items to be checked and signed off by the bidder’s structural engineer/technologist:
o 1 off front of house platform and desk
o 2 off speaker towers next to the stage
o 2 off screen towers far left and right of stage
o 3 off speaker towers on the lawn
o 1 off VIP seating stand
o Standards safety barriers around the base of speaker towers
- The service provider is to provide 24 crowd safety barriers (each 2 m long by 1.2 m high).
See Figure 4 for an illustration of the crowd barriers required for the duration of each concert
season. The crowd safety barriers will be placed around the respective speaker towers for
the duration of the concert season.
- The service provider will also be tasked to provide unskilled labour to assist the Kirstenbosch
maintenance team with the erection and dismantling of the various speaker towers.
Below are the minimum specifications for prospective bidders on the temporary installation of a 12
m x 10 m x 6 m high tunnel roof structure and "cowsheds" (4 m x 2 m) on either side at the
Kirstenbosch Concert Stage platform.
- Roof must comply with SANS 10366 standards for temporary demountable structures.
- Roof must be designed by the manufacturer to withstand wind force 10.
- Roof must be supplied with “as-built” drawings from the manufacturer. Drawings to be
submitted with proposal.
- All structural components must be specified by the manufacturer.
- Roof must be fully enclosed on the back and both sides to protect against wind and rain.
- Structure to include cowsheds on the left and right of the main structure for monitoring and
side stage applications. These must also be covered to protect from the weather.
- Structure to include all required ballasts as required by the manufacturer.
- Structure must include a static calculation by a third party to verify the manufacturers
calculations.
- All designs of the concert stage tunnel canopy must be provided for submission to the City
of Cape Town as part of the Kirstenbosch Summer Concert event permit approval.
General
The service provider must:
- Confirm all measurements on site for pricing purposes.
- Supply all necessary equipment, labour, spares and materials necessary for the proper
execution of the contract.
- Take adequate precautions to prevent damage to any fixtures and fittings on site.
- Take adequate precautions to prevent damage to any of the trees, plantings, path and
walkways on site.
- Provide all guarantees, warrantees, certificate of compliance.
The service provider and personnel must:
- Always adhere to all security and garden rules imposed by SANBI Client on site.
- Be especially mindful of the presence of visitors and staff in the garden.
- Adhere to all SANBI’s Health & Safety requirements as per the baseline H&S specifications
provided.
Note: It is the responsibility of the service provider to take onsite measurements to ensure
that the correct temporary concert stage tunnel canopy is installed. The sketches below serve
as a guide for prospective bidders.
- Concert Stage Layout
Figure 1. Plan view.
Figure 2. 3D view.
Figure 3. Tunnel concert stage canopy with “cowsheds” on either side.
Figure 4. Typical 2 m wide by 1.2 m high fencing panel with support legs and clip in fixtures.
- Requirements for Proposals
6.1. Mandatory Requirements
Each submission must include/comply with the following (failure to comply will result in the
tender being disqualified ):
- A copy of the CSD registration report.
- Fully completed and signed SBD forms.
- A letter of Good Standing from the office of the Compensation Commissioner as required
by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), if applicable.
The letter should be issued by the Department of Labour.
- Signed certificate of attendance from the compulsory briefing session in the name of the
bidding entity.
- Proposed fee/cost structure as per the pricing guidelines (Annexure A).
- Professional ECSA registration for the Structural Engineer/Technologist
6.2. Other Documents Required
Each tender document should also include the documentation as indicated below. Failure to submit
these documents will not result in disqualification, however, the information contained in them is
required for evaluation purposes and failure to include these documents will be considered nonresponsive.
- Details of the bidder, including the bidding entity’s profile that outlines relevant skills,
experience, and track record in support of the required competencies, as well as the mission
statement and policies of the bidding entity. This must include the minimum key personnel
for the service required (section 9) including up-to-date CVs.
- A copy of all proposed professionals’ valid and up-to-date registrations with the relevant
professional councils must be provided.
- A brief description of the approach and methodology to address the objectives and
specific requirements, including designs, sketches and specifications. This should
demonstrate an understanding of the scope of work required specifically to this project.
- A work plan that indicates the relative timelines and level of effort towards activities and
deliverables, a clear allocation of roles, responsibilities, and resources towards the
deliverables, as well as the tasks that may be sub-contracted with an indication of the
approximate time requirements for these tasks.
- Proof of experience in managing similar type of works.
- Bidders must submit at least five (5) reference letters from clients for whom similar services
have been successfully rendered. The reference letters must clearly indicate the nature and
scope of the services provided, the amount, and the period during which the services were
rendered. They must be on the clients' official letterhead, signed by an authorised
representative and include contact details for verification purposes. At least three (3) of the
five (5) reference letters must be from different organisations. Failure to submit reference
letters from at least three different organisations will lead to disqualification during the
verification process.
SANBI reserves the right to: verify any information supplied in the tender submission; to not appoint
any service provider; to cancel or withdraw this tender at any time without attracting any penalties or
liabilities; to have the final say in the appointment of the Service Provider and that this will be binding;
to disqualify a tender or cancel any subsequent contracts should it be found that: 1) Information was
omitted that should have been disclosed, 2) factually inaccurate information was provided and/or 3)
that a misrepresentation of facts has occurred.
SANBI shall not be held liable for any cost that has been incurred by the Service Provider in the
preparation of the proposal, the obtaining of certificates or any other cost that might be incurred in
submitting the proposal.