Professional Services Tenders

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The CSIR reserves the right to: 14.1 Extend the closing date of this RFP; 14.2 Correct any mistakes before closing date and time of the tender that may have been in the Bid documents or occurred at any stage of the tender process; 14.3 Verify any information contained in the bidder’s submission; 14.4 Request documentary proof regarding the bidder’s submission; Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation 14.5 Carry out site inspections, product evaluations or explanatory meetings in order to verify the nature and quality of the product/service offered by the bidder(s) or verify any information whether before or after the adjudication of this RFP; 14.6 Award this tender to a bidder that did not score the highest total number of points, only in accordance with Section 2(1)(f) of the PPPFA (Act ); 14.7 Request audited financial statements or other documents for the purpose of a due diligence exercise to determine if the bidder will be able to execute the contract; 14.8 Award this RFP as a whole or in part; 14.9 Award this RFP to multiple bidders; 14.10 Cancel and/or terminate the tender process at any stage, including after the Closing Date and/or after presentations have been made, and/or after tenders have been evaluated and/or after the preferred bidder(s) have been notified of their status as such; 14.11 Post tender negotiate on any elements on the bid, including but not limited to technical, transformation, price, and contractual terms and conditions.; 14.12 Not to award a contract to a bidder who is associated with a security breach that materially adversely affects other entities or if any directors or officers of a bidder are formally charged of fraudulent or illegal conduct which, would harm the CSIR’s reputation by its continued association with the bidder. 15 CONFLICT OF INTEREST, CORRUPTION AND FRAUD 15.1 The CSIR reserves its right to disqualify any bidder who either itself or any of whose members (save for such members who hold a minority interest in the bidder through shares listed on any recognised stock exchange), indirect members (being any person or entity who indirectly holds at least a 15% interest in the bidder other than in the context of shares listed on a recognised stock exchange), directors or members of senior management, whether in respect of CSIR or any other government organ or entity and whether from the Republic of South Africa or otherwise ("Government Entity") Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation a. engages in any collusive tendering, anti-competitive conduct, or any other similar conduct, including but not limited to any collusion with any other bidder in respect of the subject matter of this bid; b. seeks any assistance, other than assistance officially provided by a Government Entity, from any employee, advisor or other representative of a Government Entity in order to obtain any unlawful advantage in relation to procurement or services provided or to be provided to a Government Entity; c. makes or offers any gift, gratuity, anything of any value or other inducement, to any Government Entity's officers, directors, employees, advisors or other representatives in order to obtain any unlawful advantage in relation to procurement or services provided or to be provided to a Government Entity; d. accepts anything of value or an inducement that would or may provide financial gain, advantage or benefit in relation to procurement or services provided or to be provided to a Government Entity; e. pays or agrees to pay to any person any fee, commission, percentage, brokerage fee, gift or any other consideration, that is contingent upon or results from, the award of any tender, contract, right or entitlement which is in any way related to procurement or the rendering of any services to a Government Entity; f. has in the past engaged in any matter referred to above; or g. has been found guilty in a court of law on charges of fraud and/or forgery, regardless of whether or not a prison term was imposed and despite such bidder, member or director’s name not specifically appearing on the List of Tender Defaulters kept at National Treasury. 16 MISREPRESENTATION DURING THE LIFECYCLE OF THE CONTRACT 16.1 The bidder should note that the terms of its Tender will be incorporated in the proposed contract by reference and that the CSIR relies upon the bidder’s Tender as a material representation in making an award to a successful bidder and in concluding an agreement with the bidder. Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation 16.2 It follows therefore that misrepresentations in a Tender may give rise to service termination and a claim by the CSIR against the bidder notwithstanding the conclusion of the Service Level Agreement between the CSIR and the bidder for the provision of the Service in question. In the event of a conflict between the bidder’s proposal and the Service Level Agreement concluded between the parties, the Service Level Agreement will prevail. 17 PREPARATION COSTS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY The Bidder will bear all its costs in preparing, submitting and presenting any response or Tender to this bid and all other costs incurred by it throughout the bid process. Furthermore, no statement in this bid will be construed as placing the CSIR, its employees or agents under any obligation whatsoever, including in respect of costs, expenses or losses incurred by the bidder(s) in the preparation of their response to this bid. A bidder participates in this bid process entirely at its own risk and cost. The CSIR shall not be liable to compensate a bidder on any grounds whatsoever for any costs incurred or any damages suffered as a result of the Bidder’s participation in this Bid process. 18 INDEMNITY If a bidder breaches the conditions of this bid and, as a result of that breach, the CSIR incurs costs or damages (including, without limitation, the cost of any investigations, procedural impairment, repetition of all or part of the bid process and/or enforcement of intellectual property rights or confidentiality obligations), then the bidder indemnifies and holds the CSIR harmless from any and all such costs which the CSIR may incur and for any damages or losses the CSIR may suffer. 19 PRECEDENCE This document will prevail over any information provided during any briefing session whether oral or written, unless such written information provided, expressly amends this document by reference. Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation 20 TAX COMPLIANCE No tender shall be awarded to a bidder who is not tax compliant. If a recommended bidder is not tax complaint, the bidder will be notified in writing of their non- compliant status and the bidder will be requested to submit written proof from SARS of their tax compliant status or proof that they have made an arrangement to meet their outstanding tax obligations within seven (7) working days. Should they fail to do so CSIR will reject their bid. The CSIR reserves the right to withdraw an award made, or cancel a contract concluded with a successful bidder in the event that it is established that such bidder was in fact not tax compliant at the time of the award or has submitted a fraudulent Tax Clearance Certificate to the CSIR, or whose verification against the Central Supplier Database (CSD) proves non-compliant. The CSIR further reserves the right to cancel a contract with a successful bidder in the event that such bidder does not remain tax compliant for the full term of the contract. 21 TENDER DEFAULTERS AND RESTRICTED SUPPLIERS No tender shall be awarded to a bidder whose name (or any of its members, directors, partners or trustees) appear on the Register of Tender Defaulters kept by National Treasury, or who have been placed on National Treasury’s List of Restricted Suppliers. The CSIR reserves the right to withdraw an award, or cancel a contract concluded with a Bidder should it be established, at any time, that a bidder has been blacklisted with National Treasury by another government institution. 22 GOVERNING LAW South African law governs this bid and the bid response process. The bidder agrees to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts in any dispute of any kind that may arise out of or in connection with the subject matter of this bid, the bid itself and all processes associated with the bid. Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation 23 CONFIDENTIALITY Except as may be required by operation of law, by a court or by a regulatory authority having appropriate jurisdiction, no information contained in or relating to this bid or a bidder’s tender(s) will be disclosed by any bidder or other person not officially involved with the CSIR’s examination and evaluation of a Tender. No part of the bid may be distributed, reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, in whole or in part except for the purpose of preparing a Tender. This bid and any other documents supplied by the CSIR remain proprietary to the CSIR and must be promptly returned to the CSIR upon request together with all copies, electronic versions, excerpts or summaries thereof or work derived there from. Throughout this bid process and thereafter, bidder(s) must secure the CSIR’s written approval prior to the release of any information that pertains to (i) the potential work or activities to which this bid relates; or (ii) the process which follows this bid. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in disqualification from the bid process and civil action. 24 AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS Should funds no longer be available to pay for the execution of the responsibilities of this bid, the CSIR may terminate the Agreement at its own discretion or temporarily suspend all or part of the services by notice to the successful bidder who shall immediately make arrangements to stop the performance of the services and minimize further expenditure: Provided that the successful bidder shall thereupon be entitled to payment in full for the services delivered, up to the date of cancellation or suspension. 25 PERSONAL INFORMATION 25.1 Each Party consents to the other Party holding and processing “personal information” (as defined in the POPI Act) relating to it for legal, personnel, administrative and management purposes (including, if applicable, any “special personal information” relating to him/her, as defined in the POPI Act). Notwithstanding the generality of the aforesaid, each Party hereby undertakes to comply with all relevant provisions of the POPI Act and any other applicable Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation data protection laws. The bidder further agrees to comply with all CSIR’s reasonable internal governance requirements pertaining to data protection. 25.2 Each Party consents to the other Party making such information available to those who provide products or services to such parties (such as advisers, regulatory authorities, governmental or quasi-governmental organisations and potential purchasers of such Party or any part of their business). 25.3 While performing any activity where a Party is handling personal information as a “responsible party” (as defined in the POPI Act), each Party undertakes that it will process the personal information strictly in accordance with the terms of the POPI Act, this Contract, and the other Party’s instructions from time to time, and take appropriate operational measures to safeguard the data against any unauthorised access. 25.4 Each Party acknowledges that in the course of conducting business with each other, each Party intends to maintain and process personal information about the other Party in an internal database. By signing this Contract, each Party consents to the maintenance and processing of such personal information. Where relevant, the bidder shall procure that all of its personnel, agents, representatives, contractors, sub-contractors and mandataries shall comply with the provisions of this clause 30 (Personal Information). The CSIR shall be entitled on reasonable notice to conduct an inspection or audit bidders compliance with the requisite POPI Act safeguards. 26 DISCLAIMER This RFP is a request for proposals only and not an offer document. Answers to this RFP must not be construed as acceptance of an offer or imply the existence of a contract between the parties. By submission of its proposal, bidders shall be deemed to have satisfied themselves with and to have accepted all Terms & Conditions of this RFP. The CSIR makes no representation, warranty, assurance, guarantee or endorsements to bidder concerning the RFP, whether with regard to its accuracy, completeness or otherwise and the CSIR shall have no liability towards the bidder or any other party in connection therewith. Request for Proposal CSIR RFP No. 1210/23/01/2026 of 51 CSIR Tender Documentation SECTION B EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

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