IT resources for migration to new aws stack

Goods supplied must conform to the standards and specifications in the bidding documents. The purchaser may inspect the supplier's premises and records at reasonable hours. Pre-bidding testing is at the bidder's cost. If inspections show non-compliance, the supplier bears the inspection costs and may have supplies rejected; rejected supplies must be removed and replaced at the supplier's cost. The supplier must permit audits by purchaser-appointed auditors.

The contract is governed by the General Conditions of Contract (GCC), which apply to all bids, contracts and orders unless special conditions override them. Key obligations include:

• Performance security: the successful bidder must furnish a performance security within 30 days of contract award, in the amount and form specified in the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC). Acceptable forms include a bank guarantee, irrevocable letter of credit, or cashier's/certified cheque. The security is returned within 30 days after completion of all obligations, including warranty.
• Payment: the supplier invoices with a delivery note; payment is due within 30 days of invoice submission, in Rand unless otherwise stated.
• Prices: quoted prices are firm and cannot vary unless price adjustments are authorised in the SCC or a bid validity extension.
• Contract amendments: only by written amendment signed by both parties.
• Assignment: the supplier may not assign obligations without the purchaser's prior written consent.
• Subcontracts: all subcontracts must be notified in writing to the purchaser.
• Delays: the supplier must notify the purchaser in writing of any conditions delaying performance. Penalties may be imposed for late delivery, calculated at the current prime interest rate per day of delay on the value of delayed goods or services.
• Termination for default: the purchaser may terminate the contract in whole or part for failure to deliver, failure to perform other obligations, or corrupt/fraudulent practices. The supplier may be restricted from doing business with the public sector for up to 10 years.
• Force majeure: the supplier is not liable for penalties or termination if delay is due to force majeure, provided prompt written notice is given.
• Insolvency: the purchaser may terminate the contract without compensation if the supplier becomes bankrupt or insolvent.
• Disputes: parties first attempt amicable resolution; if unresolved after 30 days, mediation may be initiated; if mediation fails, the dispute may be settled in a South African court.
• Limitation of liability: the supplier is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, except for penalties/damages; aggregate liability is capped at the total contract price, except for repair/replacement of defective equipment.
• Governing language: English.
• Applicable law: South African law.
• Taxes: the supplier is responsible for all taxes and duties; no contract is concluded with a bidder whose tax matters are not in order, and an original SARS tax clearance certificate must be submitted before award.
• Restrictive practices: collusive bidding is prohibited; the purchaser may refer matters to the Competition Commission and may invalidate bids, terminate contracts, restrict business for up to 10 years, or claim damages.

The document is a vendor application form for local and domestic stations, used to register as a supplier with South African Airways. It collects company, bank, tax, and B-BBEE information and requires supporting documentation for vendor master approval.

Submission email: [email protected]

Vendor Master Authoriser (GSM): Bertus Steyn

Vendor Master Authoriser (Finance): Tricia Ally

Submission method: email

Submission email: [email protected]

Required documents (all must be attached):

• Completed vendor application form (AP Form 07)
• Cancelled cheque or stamped bank confirmation letter not older than one year
• Valid B-BBEE certificate or affidavit
• Valid SARS tax clearance certificate or SARS pin on official SARS documentation
• CSD registration report
• Certified company registration documents
• Certified copies of identity documents of shareholders
• Certified shareholders' certificates
• If a contracted supplier, attach a copy of the contract; otherwise attach the GSM Approval Schedule

Bidders must be registered on the CSD.

Bidders must have a valid SARS tax clearance certificate or SARS pin.

Bidders must provide a valid B-BBEE certificate or affidavit.

Bidders must provide a stamped bank confirmation letter or cancelled cheque.

Bidders must submit the completed vendor application form to [email protected].

The vendor application form is for local and domestic stations.

Bidders must provide company details including registered name, trading name, physical and postal addresses, contact person, phone, email, and fax.

Bidders must provide bank and tax details: bank name, branch name/number, account number, VAT registration number, tax clearance certificate number, approval date, and expiry date.

Bidders must provide B-BBEE details: certificate number, verification date, expiry date, applicable scorecard (EME, QSE, or General/Large), status level, enterprise development, value-adding status, percentage black ownership, black women ownership, and black people with disabilities.

Bidders must state how long the enterprise has been in operation and annual turnover for the previous financial year.

Payment terms: 15 days from invoice (subject to GSM Approval Schedule).

Bank confirmation letter or cancelled cheque must not be older than one year.

CSD registration is required.

Valid SARS tax clearance certificate or SARS pin is required.

Valid B-BBEE certificate or affidavit is required.

Certified company registration documents are required.

Certified copies of identity documents of shareholders are required.

Certified shareholders' certificates are required.

The procurement seeks IT resources to enable the migration to a new AWS stack for South African Airways. Three named roles are required: a Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect, an AWS Cloud-Native Java / EKS Engineer, and a Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer. Each role is a full-time named resource with release and production-support participation. The resources must work across SAA, Amadeus and partner ecosystems, delivering secure, resilient and supportable solutions for SAA's customer-facing and operational digital platforms.

Evaluation is based on the mandatory qualifications and experience of the named resources proposed for each of the three roles. Bidders must submit evidence that each proposed resource meets the stated minimum qualifications, years of experience, and domain knowledge. For the AWS Cloud-Native Java / EKS Engineer, a current AWS certification is mandatory and evidence of certification must be submitted with the bid. No scoring split, preference point system, or minimum qualifying score is stated in the document.

Scope: Provision of three named IT resources to support SAA's migration to a new AWS stack.

Role 1 — Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect

• Principal-level architecture and technical delivery leadership for SAA's digital estate.
• Own current-state, transition and target architecture for flysaa.com and related digital channels (flight shopping, booking, payment, check-in, manage-booking, corporate travel, loyalty, mobile, operational applications).
• Lead solution design for integrations with Amadeus Altéa, RefX, airline web services, payment providers, loyalty platforms, Star Alliance services and other third-party or internal systems.
• Provide architecture and technical governance for Java/Spring Boot microservices, REST and SOAP APIs, middleware, web applications, mobile applications, caching, messaging and data integrations.
• Shape SAA's airline-retailing roadmap: NDC shopping, Offer and Order concepts, dynamic offers, corporate distribution, progressive modernisation of legacy booking journeys.
• Define cloud and hybrid architecture for AWS-hosted applications: EKS, containerisation, networking, load balancing, security controls, secrets, observability, scalability, resilience, backup, disaster recovery.
• Establish non-functional requirements: availability, response time, throughput, data protection, auditability, accessibility, supportability, recovery objectives.
• Chair or participate in design authority reviews; produce solution architecture documents, interface specifications, architecture decision records, sequence diagrams, deployment views.
• Lead technical planning and delivery across internal teams, systems integrators, offshore developers, SaaS providers and airline technology vendors.
• Support technical due diligence, effort estimation, procurement evaluations, vendor challenge sessions and acceptance of third-party solution designs.
• Provide escalation leadership for critical incidents, cross-system defects and performance or integration failures; ensure root-cause analysis and permanent corrective actions.
• Maintain architecture standards; ensure security, privacy, PCI DSS, POPIA and SAA governance obligations are reflected in designs and implementation.
• Coach technical leads and engineers; ensure structured knowledge transfer to SAA personnel and appointed service providers.

Role 2 — AWS Cloud-Native Java / EKS Engineer

• Design, develop, test and maintain Java and Spring Boot services supporting SAA digital channels and airline business processes.
• Build and maintain REST and SOAP integrations with Amadeus, airline partners, internal systems, payment, notification, loyalty and operational services.
• Containerise services using Docker; deploy, configure and operate workloads on Amazon EKS and Kubernetes.
• Create and maintain Helm charts, manifests, configuration, secrets, health probes, resource limits, autoscaling and deployment strategies.
• Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines using SAA-approved source control, build, quality, security, container registry and deployment tooling.
• Apply secure coding, dependency management, vulnerability remediation, least-privilege access, encryption and secrets-management practices.
• Implement observability: structured logging, metrics, tracing, dashboards, alerts; support capacity planning and proactive reliability improvements.
• Troubleshoot production issues across JVM, application, database, API, DNS, TLS, network, load-balancer, ingress, pod and cluster layers.
• Participate in code reviews, automated testing, static analysis, performance testing, release planning and technical documentation.
• Provide on-call or scheduled production support where required; contribute to incident reports, root-cause analysis and permanent fixes.
• Collaborate with architects, mobile and web developers, cloud/platform teams, security teams and external airline technology vendors.
• Transfer implementation and operational knowledge to SAA technical personnel; maintain runbooks and support documentation.

Role 3 — Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer

• Develop and maintain cross-platform iOS and Android applications with React Native, and responsive web experiences with React and TypeScript.
• Develop or enhance supporting Java/Spring Boot services; integrate mobile and web clients with SAA APIs and third-party airline platforms.
• Implement customer and employee journeys: authentication, profile, loyalty, flight search, booking handoff, check-in, manage booking, notifications, baggage tracking, operational workflows.
• Integrate with airline, loyalty and enterprise services using REST and SOAP APIs, secure tokens, deep links, push notifications and approved mobile SDKs.
• Implement secure local storage, session management, caching, offline-first behaviour, retry and synchronisation patterns suited to unreliable mobile connectivity.
• Build reusable components, design-system patterns and accessible responsive interfaces consistent with SAA brand and user-experience standards.
• Integrate device capabilities where required: camera, barcode or QR scanning, file handling, biometrics, notifications, secure credential storage.
• Manage mobile build configuration, environment settings, signing, certificates, provisioning profiles and controlled releases to Apple App Store and Google Play.
• Write unit, component and integration tests; participate in code review, defect triage, performance optimisation and release verification.
• Instrument applications for crash reporting, analytics, logging and operational monitoring while respecting privacy and consent requirements.
• Diagnose production issues spanning the mobile client, browser, API gateway, Java service, external integration and device or operating-system behaviour.
• Maintain technical documentation, release notes and support runbooks; transfer knowledge to SAA personnel.

Approach and delivery expectations:

• Lead technical planning and delivery across internal teams, systems integrators, offshore developers, SaaS providers and airline technology vendors.
• Coach technical leads and engineers and ensure structured knowledge transfer to SAA personnel and appointed service providers.
• Provide escalation leadership for critical incidents, cross-system defects and performance or integration failures, ensuring root-cause analysis and permanent corrective actions.
• Provide on-call or scheduled production support where required and contribute to incident reports, root-cause analysis and permanent fixes.
• Transfer implementation and operational knowledge to SAA technical personnel and maintain runbooks and support documentation.
• Deliverables include approved solution architectures, implementation roadmaps, architecture decision records, integration specifications, security and non-functional requirements, technical delivery plans, estimates, dependency maps, risk or issue escalations, design assurance outcomes, production architecture support, major-incident participation, root-cause recommendations, current architecture repository, system knowledge base and structured knowledge-transfer material.
• For the AWS Cloud-Native Java / EKS Engineer, deliverables include production-ready Java services and APIs, version-controlled source code, automated tests, code-review evidence, technical documentation, container images, Helm charts or Kubernetes manifests, configuration, repeatable deployment pipelines, monitoring dashboards, alerts, operational runbooks, documented support procedures, release notes, implementation evidence, rollback procedures, incident analysis, defect remediation, performance improvements and knowledge-transfer outputs.

Required domain and technical knowledge across roles:

• Airline retailing and distribution: schedules and availability, fares, flight shopping, offers, ancillaries, orders/bookings, ticketing, servicing and disruption considerations.
• Amadeus ecosystem: Altéa reservation concepts, RefX booking flows, airline web services and the practical constraints of redirect, deep-link and hosted booking journeys.
• IATA standards and industry direction: NDC message concepts, AirShopping, Offer and Order management, One Order and airline retailing modernisation.
• Architecture methods: domain and integration modelling, API design, security architecture, non-functional analysis, technology roadmaps, architecture decisions and technical risk management.
• Platforms and patterns: Java, Spring Boot, REST, SOAP, JSON/XML, microservices, AWS, EKS/Kubernetes, Docker, caching, event-driven integration, Liferay or comparable digital experience platforms, and React/Next.js or comparable front-end frameworks.
• Operational engineering: monitoring, logging, tracing, alerting, capacity planning, vulnerability remediation, incident command, root-cause analysis and disaster recovery.
• For the Senior Mobile Developer: React and React Native component architecture, hooks, navigation, state management, forms, accessibility, responsive design and performance optimisation; JavaScript and TypeScript, asynchronous programming, API consumption, client-side validation, error handling and reusable application architecture; Java and Spring Boot services, REST APIs, JSON, authentication, validation, persistence and integration with external systems; iOS and Android build ecosystems, including Xcode, Gradle, signing, provisioning, store submission and operating-system compatibility management.

Quality and engineering standards expected across all roles:

• Maintain architecture standards and ensure security, privacy, PCI DSS, POPIA and SAA governance obligations are reflected in designs and implementation.
• Apply secure coding, dependency management, vulnerability remediation, least-privilege access, encryption and secrets-management practices.
• Implement observability using structured logging, metrics, tracing, dashboards and alerts; support capacity planning and proactive reliability improvements.
• Participate in code reviews, automated testing, static analysis, performance testing, release planning and technical documentation.
• Write unit, component and integration tests; participate in code review, defect triage, performance optimisation and release verification.
• Engineering quality includes unit and integration testing, mocking, code review, static analysis, dependency scanning, build automation and release traceability.
• Instrument applications for crash reporting, analytics, logging and operational monitoring while respecting privacy and consent requirements.

B-BBEE Minimum Level: 8 (as stated in the document).

Role 1 — Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect

• Bachelor's degree in IT, Information Systems, Computer Science or closely related discipline; equivalent NQF Level 8 qualification may be considered.
• Minimum 15 years' experience in enterprise software engineering, solution delivery or technology leadership.
• Minimum 10 years' demonstrable experience in airline or travel technology, including direct delivery of airline digital commerce or passenger-service integrations.
• At least 5 years' experience performing solution architecture, enterprise architecture or technical design authority responsibilities for business-critical platforms.
• Demonstrable experience leading backend, API and middleware delivery for a large airline website or comparable airline digital platform.
• Demonstrable experience coordinating multidisciplinary and distributed delivery teams, including on-site, remote and vendor resources.
• Hands-on experience with airline shopping, booking, PNR servicing, payment, check-in, loyalty, ancillary, notification or baggage-related journeys.
• Proven experience integrating Amadeus Altéa and/or comparable passenger service systems using REST, SOAP, Self-Service or enterprise airline APIs.
• Demonstrable experience in the architecture of Java/Spring-based services, API-led integration, microservices and containerised workloads on AWS and Kubernetes/EKS.
• Experience with Agile delivery, DevOps practices, technical assurance, code-quality governance and production support. Scrum or Agile certification is advantageous.

Role 2 — AWS Cloud-Native Java / EKS Engineer

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering or related discipline, or relevant tertiary qualification supported by equivalent professional experience.
• Current AWS certification relevant to solution architecture, development or operations. Evidence of certification must be submitted with the bid.
• Minimum 5 years' professional Java software-development experience in enterprise or high-availability transactional environments.
• Strong production experience with Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, SOAP services, JSON/XML, JPA/Hibernate and relational databases.
• Demonstrable hands-on experience deploying and supporting production workloads on AWS, Amazon EKS and Kubernetes.
• Demonstrable experience with Docker, Helm, container registries, CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment practices.
• Experience with AWS services relevant to the SAA estate: EKS, EC2, ECR, IAM, Secrets Manager, CloudWatch, load balancing, networking and security controls.
• Experience in monitoring, production troubleshooting, incident response, performance analysis and root-cause resolution for distributed services.
• Experience integrating with external enterprise platforms using authenticated, high-volume and business-critical interfaces.
• Prior airline, travel, loyalty, e-commerce or similarly regulated high-availability transactional experience is required; direct airline integration experience is preferred.

Role 3 — Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer

• Relevant diploma or degree in Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering or related discipline; equivalent demonstrated experience may be considered.
• Minimum 7 years' professional application-development experience, including delivery of production mobile or responsive digital applications.
• Demonstrable production experience with React and React Native using JavaScript and/or TypeScript.
• Demonstrable Java and Spring Boot experience, including development or integration of REST APIs used by web or mobile applications.
• Experience delivering applications for both iOS and Android and supporting them through build, testing, signing, release and post-release defect cycles.
• Experience with state management, asynchronous data access, offline caching, secure storage, push notifications, deep linking and mobile error handling.
• Experience integrating digital applications with authentication, loyalty, booking, payment, notification or other business-critical services.
• Experience with Git-based delivery, automated testing, CI/CD, code review, issue tracking and Agile development practices.
• Prior experience in airline, travel, loyalty, e-commerce or comparable high-volume customer-facing application is required.
• Demonstrable ability to participate in production support and troubleshoot across front-end, mobile and Java service layers.

No contractual terms are stated in the document. The content provided under this section in the source is technical responsibilities of the AWS Cloud-Native Java / EKS Engineer, not contract conditions.

Bidders must provide evidence of the AWS Cloud-Native Java/EKS Engineer's current AWS certification. The Lead Architect must hold a Bachelor's degree in IT, Information Systems, Computer Science, or equivalent NQF Level 8 qualification. The Senior Mobile Developer must hold a relevant diploma or degree, or equivalent demonstrated experience. All roles require the stated minimum years of professional experience and prior airline, travel, loyalty, or comparable high-availability transactional experience. No other eligibility criteria (e.g., CSD registration, tax clearance, B-BBEE level) are stated in the provided document.

SAA IT is revamping its backend systems and applications to align with current technologies, improve customer experience and reduce operating cost, including migration from on-premises infrastructure to AWS while the existing on-premises systems remain in operation. SAA seeks a service provider with the experience, expertise and track record to supply IT resources for the migration to a new AWS stack.

Closing: 22 October 2026 at 16:00

Issue date: 14 October 2026

Quotation validity: 90 days

Enquiries and submission

• Email: [email protected]
• Business unit: Global Supply Management, South African Airways

Submission

• Method: email only, to [email protected]
• Maximum email size: 2MB per message

Submission method

• Email only, to [email protected].
• Maximum email size: 2MB. Larger submissions must be sent in parts or supplied as a downloadable link; SAA accepts no responsibility for links that are corrupt or cannot be opened.
• Closing: 22 October 2026 at 16:00. Late quotations are not considered.
• Quotation validity: 90 days.
• Incomplete submissions invalidate the quote and the bidder is automatically disqualified.

Returnable documents (must accompany the quote)

• SAA Vendor application and supporting documents (Annexure 1).
• SBD 4 (Declaration of Interest) (Annexure 2): discloses whether any director or shareholder is employed by the state or connected to anyone at SAA.
• SAA General Conditions of Contract (Annexure 3): signing confirms the bidder has read, understands and accepts SAA's contract terms.
• Job descriptions for the roles in scope (Annexure 4).
• Original Tax Clearance Certificate where SAA does not already hold a valid one; the vendor must keep SAA supplied with a valid certificate, and failure may invalidate the quote.
• Written quote form completed with vendor name, postal address, telephone, cell, email and contact person, signed by an authorised person stating their capacity.

Other

• No goods or services may be delivered before an official purchase order or contract is received.
• A bidder who decides not to quote must notify the relevant procurement official by email.

Documents that must accompany the quote:

• SAA Vendor application and supporting documents (Annexure 1).
• SBD 4 (Declaration of Interest) (Annexure 2).
• SAA General Conditions of Contract (Annexure 3).
• Job descriptions for the roles in scope of work (Annexure 4).
• Original Tax Clearance Certificate where SAA does not already hold a valid one.

Five sequential steps; SAA may run steps in parallel, and being evaluated at one stage does not mean earlier stages were passed.

• Step 1: administrative responsiveness — returnable documents completed and returned by the closing date and time, bid signed by an authorised respondent, validity of returnable documents verified.
• Step 2: substantive responsiveness — mandatory returnable documents.
• Step 3: technical and functionality, minimum threshold 75%.
• Step 4: price (80 points) and specific goals (20 points).
• Step 5: post-tender negotiations, if applicable, before the letter of award is issued to the preferred supplier.

Phase 1 — mandatory returnable documents

• 100% compliance required against the statements of compliance, answered Yes or No with supporting evidence. A 'No' is treated as non-compliant and disqualifies the bid; missing critical returnable documents also disqualifies.

Phase 2 — functionality (total 100, threshold 75)

• AMADEUS eRetail/RefX experience: 20 points. Two fully compliant reference letters = 20; one = 10; none or non-compliant = 0. Minimum two years' experience required.
• Lead time to provide resources: 20 points. 0–2 weeks = 20; above 2 up to 4 weeks = 10; above 4 up to 6 weeks = 5; more than 6 weeks or no clear timeline = 0. Lead time must be stated in weeks with a brief mobilisation approach; vague answers such as 'as soon as possible' or 'TBD' are non-compliant.
• Digital transformation project experience in the last 7 years: 30 points. Four valid reference letters = 30; three = 20; two = 10; one = 5.
• CVs covering certifications, references, IT diploma and domain experience: 30 points. Three compliant CVs per role = 30; two = 20; one = 10; none or non-compliant = 0.
• Minimum qualifying score: 75/100. Bids below 75% are not evaluated on price or B-BBEE.
• Any individual resource without 7 years' experience and a National Diploma in IT plus the relevant field certificate disqualifies the service provider.

Phase 3 — specific goals (20 points)

• B-BBEE Level 1 or 2: 10 points; non-compliant or Level 3–8: 0 points.
• 30% or more black women ownership: 10 points.

Other

• SAA awards at its sole discretion, is not obliged to accept the lowest quotation, and may withdraw the RFQ at any time.
• Quotations showing apparent deviations from the requirements are eliminated from further adjudication.

Purpose

• SAA IT is revamping its backend systems and applications to current technologies to improve customer experience and cut operating cost, including migration from on-premises infrastructure to AWS while the existing on-premises systems continue to run.
• SAA wants a service provider able to supply IT resources supporting its IT infrastructure — hardware, software, network, security and related services — with a proven track record in migrating to a new AWS stack.

Roles required (minimum 2 CVs per role)

• Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect
• AWS Cloud-Native Java/EKS Engineer
• Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer

Bidder experience

• At least 7 years' proven experience supplying IT resources for large-scale enterprise projects, of which at least 3 years in AWS cloud migration and maintenance.
• Evidence: at least 3 purchase orders or contracts from previous clients in aviation, financial services, telecommunications, online gambling or e-commerce, with a combined duration of at least 7 years.

Candidate requirements

• Minimum 7 years' hands-on experience in the proposed role, in aviation, financial services, telecoms, online gambling or online shopping.
• Minimum National Diploma in IT plus the relevant certificate for the field or area of speciality.
• Certified copies of all qualifications and professional certifications per candidate; SAA may verify credentials with issuing institutions before onboarding.
• At least 3 recent project-specific reference letters per candidate, dated within the last 7 years and matching the purchase order or contract, with direct contact telephone and email details; SAA will conduct reference calls.
• Technical assessments are mandatory for every profile submitted.
• Criminal, credit and employment-history background checks must be passed before engagement; the service provider arranges them and any candidate who fails is immediately disqualified.
• A detailed role-based skill matrix per candidate, mapping expertise to the role and project technologies.

Delivery and capacity

• Key roles such as Project Manager and Solution Architect must be onsite for at least 50% of the project duration, even where other roles are delivered offshore.
• All resources must work collaboratively with SAA and third-party teams.
• Contracts must carry KPIs and SLAs per role with periodic performance reviews; SAA may demand immediate replacement of underperforming resources.
• All resources serve a minimum 2-month probation; unsatisfactory performance leads to immediate replacement at no extra cost.
• Any resource who leaves or is unsuitable must be replaced within 10 business days; failure incurs penalties.
• Penalty clauses apply for poor performance, credential falsification and delayed replacement.
• Services must be cost-effective, balancing quality with affordability.

Bidders must set out a clear mobilisation and deployment timeline for the proposed resources after contract award, stating in weeks how long full onboarding and availability for project commencement will take. Timelines must be realistic and achievable and supported by a brief mobilisation approach. Vague answers such as 'as soon as possible' or 'TBD' are treated as non-compliant. Scoring: 0–2 weeks = 20 points; above 2 up to 4 weeks = 10; above 4 up to 6 weeks = 5; more than 6 weeks or no clear timeline = 0.

Bidder

• At least 7 years' proven experience supplying IT resources for large-scale enterprise projects, including at least 3 years in AWS cloud migration and maintenance.
• Evidence: at least 3 purchase orders or contracts from clients in aviation, financial services, telecommunications, online gambling or e-commerce, with a combined duration of at least 7 years.
• At least 3 reference letters covering AWS cloud migration and maintenance, from the same industries, with a combined duration of at least 3 years.
• Reference letters must show client name, project description, start and end dates, and be signed by an authorised official.

Candidates

• Minimum 7 years' hands-on experience in the proposed role, in aviation, financial services, telecoms, online gambling or online shopping.
• Minimum National Diploma in IT plus the relevant certificate for the field or area of speciality.
• Certified copies of all qualifications and professional certifications; SAA may verify them with issuing institutions before onboarding.
• At least 3 recent project-specific reference letters per candidate, dated within the last 7 years and matching the purchase order or contract, with contactable telephone and email details.
• AMADEUS eRetail and/or RefX experience of at least 2 years, evidenced by 2 reference letters showing client name (preferably airline or travel), project description, start and end dates and the role performed.
• Digital transformation project experience within the last 7 years, evidenced by reference letters that fall within the 7-year period, clearly show digital transformation relevance, name the client, give start and end dates and are signed by an authorised official.
• CVs must state the minimum IT qualification, include applicable certifications, give at least one contactable reference and explicitly demonstrate domain experience through project roles and descriptions.

Quote an hourly rate and a daily rate for each of the following, onshore and offshore, quantity 1 each:

• Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect
• AWS Cloud-Native Java/EKS Engineer
• Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer

All prices must exclude VAT and must be firm and fixed, subject only to statutory VAT changes. Pricing must be broken down per individual component making up the solution, based on the technical and functional requirements.

Pricing format

• Quote an hourly rate and a daily rate for each role, onshore and offshore, quantity 1 each:
• Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect
• AWS Cloud-Native Java/EKS Engineer
• Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer
• All prices must exclude VAT.
• Prices must be firm and fixed, subject only to statutory VAT changes.
• Pricing must be broken down per individual component of the solution, based on the technical and functional requirements.
• Service, pricing and availability are taken into account.
• All purchases are made on an official purchase order; nothing may be delivered before an order or contract is received.

Mandatory documents

• SAA Vendor application and supporting documents (Annexure 1).
• SBD 4 (Declaration of Interest) (Annexure 2).
• SAA General Conditions of Contract (Annexure 3) — acceptance is binding.
• Job descriptions for the roles in scope (Annexure 4).
• Valid original Tax Clearance Certificate where SAA does not already hold one; failure may invalidate the quote.
• Signed written quote form with an authorised signatory and stated capacity.

Experience thresholds

• Bidder: at least 7 years supplying IT resources for large-scale enterprise projects, including at least 3 years in AWS cloud migration and maintenance.
• Evidence: at least 3 reference letters from aviation, financial services, telecommunications, online gambling or e-commerce clients with a combined duration of at least 7 years; and at least 3 reference letters covering AWS cloud migration and maintenance with a combined duration of at least 3 years.
• Each candidate: minimum 7 years' hands-on experience in the role, National Diploma in IT and the relevant field certificate, certified copies of qualifications and certifications, and at least 3 recent reference letters dated within the last 7 years with contactable telephone and email details.
• Technical assessments are compulsory for all submitted profiles.
• Background checks (criminal, credit, employment history) must be passed before engagement; a failed check disqualifies the candidate immediately.

B-bbee

• B-BBEE Level 1 or 2 earns 10 of the 20 specific-goals points; Level 3–8 or non-compliant earns 0.
• 30% or more black women ownership earns 10 points.
• Evidence: B-BBEE certificate, sworn affidavit or CIPC certificate per DTIC guidelines; a consolidated scorecard is accepted for a joint venture; EMEs or QSEs that are 51% black owned may submit a certificate, sworn affidavit or CIPC certificate.

Disqualification risks

• Late or incomplete quotation.
• Any mandatory returnable document missing or unsigned.
• Answering 'No' to a statement of compliance.
• Functionality score below 75%.
• Any individual resource not meeting the 7-year experience and IT diploma requirement.
• A candidate failing background checks.

Specific goals assessment (20 points) applies to bids that meet the administrative, substantive (mandatory) and technical requirements (75% threshold) and have confirmed commitment to SAA's commission structure.

• B-BBEE Level 1 or 2: 10 points. Non-compliant bidders and Level 3–8 contributors score 0.
• 30% or more black women ownership: 10 points.

Acceptable evidence

• B-BBEE certificate, sworn affidavit or B-BBEE CIPC certificate per DTIC (Department of Trade, Industry and Competition) guidelines.
• A consolidated scorecard is accepted for a joint venture.
• EMEs or QSEs that are 51% black owned may submit a B-BBEE certificate, sworn affidavit or CIPC certificate.

Performance

• Contracts must include clear KPIs and SLAs for each role, with periodic performance reviews.
• SAA may require immediate replacement of any resource not meeting performance standards.
• All resources serve a minimum 2-month probation; unsatisfactory performance during probation results in immediate replacement at no additional cost.
• Any resource who leaves or is found unsuitable must be replaced within 10 business days; failure to replace in time incurs penalties.
• Penalty clauses apply for non-compliance, including poor performance, credential falsification and delayed resource replacement.

Contract framework

• Goods and services purchased are subject to the SAA General Conditions of Contract.
• No goods or services may be delivered before an official order or contract is received.
• SAA may negotiate proposed contract terms and conditions, including price, with a prospective service provider.
• Bidders must show that their services are cost-effective, balancing quality with affordability.

Mandatory requirements

• Technical assessments are compulsory for every profile submitted.
• At least 3 recent project-specific reference letters per candidate, dated within the last 7 years and corresponding to the purchase order or contract, with direct telephone and email details; SAA will verify by reference calls.
• All candidates must pass criminal, credit and employment-history background checks before engagement; the service provider arranges the checks and any candidate who fails is immediately disqualified.
• A detailed role-based skill matrix per candidate, mapping expertise to the role and project technologies.
• Key roles such as Project Manager and Solution Architect must be available onsite for at least 50% of the project duration, even where offshore delivery is proposed for other roles.
• All resources must demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with SAA and third-party teams.

Evaluation follows five steps: returnable documents per tender requirements; mandatory (substantive) returnable documents; technical and functionality with a 75% minimum threshold; price (80 points) and specific goals (20 points); and post-tender negotiations, if applicable, before the letter of award is issued. SAA may run steps in parallel, and evaluation at any stage does not confirm that earlier stages were passed. Quotations with apparent deviations are eliminated. SAA is not compelled to award, may withdraw the RFQ at any time, and need not accept the lowest quotation. Phase 1 requires 100% compliance with the statements of compliance, answered Yes or No with supporting evidence; a 'No' is treated as non-compliant and disqualifies the bid, as does omitting critical returnable documents. Phase 2 functionality scoring (threshold 75%): AMADEUS eRetail/RefX experience 20% (two fully compliant reference letters = 20, one = 10, none or non-compliant = 0); lead time to provide resources 20% (0–2 weeks = 20, above 2 up to 4 weeks = 10, above 4 up to 6 weeks = 5, more than 6 weeks or no clear timeline = 0, with vague answers such as 'as soon as possible' or 'TBD' non-compliant); digital transformation project experience 30% (four valid reference letters = 30, three = 20, two = 10, one = 5); CVs covering certifications, references, IT diploma and domain experience 30% (three compliant CVs per role = 30, two = 20, one = 10, none or non-compliant = 0). Each resource needs at least 7 years' experience plus a National Diploma in IT and the relevant field certificate; a resource that does not meet this disqualifies the service provider. Bids below the 75% functionality threshold are not evaluated on price or B-BBEE.