Supply and provision of hosting and professional support services – 5-Year tender in eastern cape

Closing date: 06 November 2026 at 11:00

Tender documents available for download: 16 October 2026 at 09:00 from www.amatolawater.online

No briefing or site visit is stated.

Procedural enquiries:

• Contact: Ms N. Ndlamla
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 043 707 3700

Technical enquiries:

• Contact: Mr Luvuyo Ndevu
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 043 707 3700

All enquiries must be in writing; no telephonic enquiries will be entertained.

Submission address:

Amatola Water

6 Lancaster Road

Vincent

East London

Submission method: sealed envelope or parcel endorsed with the bid number and description, deposited in the Bid/Tender Box at Amatola Water, 6 Lancaster Road, Vincent, East London, before 11:00 on 06 November 2026. No emailed submissions accepted. Late, incomplete, unsigned, or electronically submitted bids will not be accepted. Bids must remain valid for 120 days from the closing date.

Returnable documents (all must be completed, signed, and submitted):

• SBD 1: Invitation to Bid – cover page with bidder details and total price.
• SBD 3.2: Pricing Schedule (non-firm prices) – total price/rate must be transferred to SBD 1.
• SBD 4: Bidder's Disclosure – declares any relationship with state employees or the procuring institution; clause 2.3 must be fully completed.
• Form A: Authority to Sign – evidence of signatory authority (e.g., board resolution). Failure to complete invalidates the bid.
• Form B: Schedule of previous contracts – details of at least two successfully completed contracts; Forms B1 and B2 must be completed, signed, and stamped.
• SBD 6.1: Preference Points Claim – must be completed and signed to claim specific goals points.
• CSD registration number and Tax Verification PIN.
• Joint Venture Agreement (if applicable).

Disqualification risks:

• Any required form left unsigned or incomplete.
• Bids received after the closing time, regardless of reason.
• Alterations or corrections not initialled or signed.

Evaluation in three stages:

• Stage 1 – Mandatory Requirements: verification of compliance and completeness of all required forms and documents. Failure to comply eliminates the bid.
• Stage 2 – Capability Requirements: bidders must meet the following, or be considered non-responsive:
• Previous experience: two (2) successfully completed contracts for hosting and professional support services, each of minimum three (3) years duration, within the last 12 years, in National, Provincial, Local Government or Public Entities. Provide completed, signed, and stamped Forms B1 and B2 (reference letters not accepted) and a company profile.
• Accreditation: must be an ICASA-certified Internet Service Provider (ISP) or an authorised partner of an ISP in South Africa. Provide certified copy of ICASA certification or proof of Authorised Partner, not older than 6 months.
• Key Personnel: Project Leader with NQF Level 6 IT qualification and minimum five years' experience in hosting cloud, backup and recovery services; Team Member with Cisco CCNP/CCIE Security qualification and minimum three years' experience in email archiving and email security; Team Member with Fortinet NSE7 or Security Architect CISSP certification and minimum three years' experience in security solutions. Provide detailed CVs and certified copies of qualifications (not older than 6 months).
• Methodology Plan: detailed plan with project breakdown, deliverables, time frames and resources.
• Stage 3 – Price and Preference: 80/20 system. Maximum points: Price 80, Specific Goals 20, Total 100.
• Price points formula: Ps = 80(1 - (Pt - Pmin)/Pmin).
• Specific goals points: HDI (51% or more black ownership) 8 points; Black women (51% or more women ownership) 4 points; Black youth (51% or more youth ownership) 4 points; People with disability (20% or more disabled people ownership) 4 points. SBD 6.1 must be completed and signed to claim these points.
• Tie-breaker: if two or more bids score equal total points, the bid with the highest points for specified goals wins; if still equal, award by drawing of lots.

Scope of work – supply and provision of hosting services and professional support services for 5 years (60 months), including:

• Domain hosting (domain registration and renewal)
• Email archiving
• Email security
• Secure VPN access
• Cloud backup solution
• Internet MPLS fibre connectivity
• Hosted firewall
• Security for all hosted services
• All related hardware for hosted services
• Staging and installation services (supply, deliver, install, racking, cabling, configure and migration of data)
• Programme and project management services
• Ongoing support, governance and reporting

Specific service requirements:

• Main Fibre Link: DFA Internet and Firewall – 200Meg/200Meg fibre service. Network must be fully redundant with mesh topology, guaranteed bandwidth with 1:1 contention, 24/7 365-day support, run on a Carrier Grade network, and be fully managed (design, configuration, support, management, reporting).
• VPN Port: bandwidth 70 Mbps.
• Cloud Hosted Bronze Firewall Services for web hosting: multi-tenanted, 24/7 support, ISO/IEC 20000 certified, ITIL compliant.
• Mimecast Email Security Solution for 300 mailboxes: includes Targeted Threat Protection (URL, attachment, impersonation), compliance security, email continuity, up to 99-year archive, Large File Send (up to 2GB), Platinum Support, and SPF/DKIM/DMARC monitoring.
• VPN MPLS Hosted Secure Connect: two-tier authentication for 70 users (option to increase), two-factor authentication, encryption, smartphone availability, real-time alerts.
• Enterprise Cloud Backup and Recovery Solution: 5 Terabyte cloud space for mirror purposes (option to increase), unlimited desktop/laptop licensing (non-M365), backup of SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, unlimited enterprise server licensing, SQL licensing, email notification, InstantData, remote support, VSS, System State backup, web access, virtual restore.
• Cloud Security Firewall for all hosted services: full redundancy, application control, advanced reporting, 24/7 support.
• Professional services: staging & installation, programme/project management.

Performance requirements:

• 99% uptime of all hosted services.
• Mean time to respond within 4 hours; mean time to repair within 24 hours.
• Measures to attain network redundancy.

A detailed methodology plan is required, covering project breakdown, deliverables, time frames and resources. This is part of the Stage 2 capability evaluation; failure to provide it renders the bid non-responsive.

Pricing must be submitted on SBD 3.1 (firm prices) and SBD 3.2 (non-firm prices). Only firm prices will be accepted. The total price/rate must be transferred to SBD 1. Prices remain firm for the first year, then subject to annual CPI-based adjustment on each contract anniversary, supported by documentary proof from Statistics South Africa. The service provider must notify Amatola Water of any escalation before implementation. Tax invoices must reflect exclusive cost with VAT added.

Pricing format: SBD 3.1 (firm prices) and SBD 3.2 (non-firm prices) – only firm prices will be accepted; non-firm prices (including those subject to exchange rate variations) will not be considered. The total price/rate must be transferred to SBD 1.

Price adjustment: prices remain firm for the first year of the contract, then subject to a once-off annual adjustment on each contract anniversary date, based on CPI as published in Statistics South Africa reports, supported by documentary proof. The service provider must notify Amatola Water of any escalation before implementation; failure to do so negates the claim.

Invoicing: the service provider must issue a tax invoice for all services rendered and/or materials supplied, reflecting the exclusive cost with VAT added.

No bid security, bond, or guarantee requirements are stated.

CSD registration: bidders must be registered on the National Treasury Central Supplier Database (CSD) and provide their CSD registration number as proof.

Tax compliance: bidders must submit their SARS Tax Compliance Status (TCS) PIN or CSD number. For consortia/joint ventures/sub-contractors, each party must submit a separate TCS certificate/PIN/CSD number.

State employment: bids from persons in the service of the state, or companies with directors who are state employees, will not be considered.

B-BBEE: specific goals points claimed via SBD 6.1. Points: HDI (51% or more black ownership) 8; Black women (51% or more women ownership) 4; Black youth (51% or more youth ownership) 4; People with disability (20% or more disabled people ownership) 4. No minimum B-BBEE level is stated.

Accreditations (capability stage):

• ICASA certification as an ISP or proof of Authorised Partner (not older than 6 months).
• Status partner with an Accredited Enterprise Cloud Backup and Recovery Solution – Platinum Partner rating.
• Status partner with an Accredited Enterprise Cloud-Based Email Security, Continuity and Archiving Solution – Elite Partner rating.
• Security certifications for support engineers: Fortinet NSE7, Cisco CCNP/CCIE, or Security Architect CISSP.

Other: ISO/IEC 20000 and ITIL compliance for the cloud hosted firewall service.

Bids must be in a sealed envelope endorsed with bid number and description, deposited in the Bid/Tender Box at Amatola Water, 6 Lancaster Road, Vincent, East London, before closing. Bids valid for 120 days. Form A must be completed; failure invalidates bid. Late bids not accepted. JV/consortium requirements as per contractual terms. Price adjustment as per pricing schedule. Amatola Water reserves rights regarding award and cancellation.

Eligibility: CSD registration required. Mandatory documents: SBD 1, SBD 3.2, SBD 4 (with clause 2.3 fully completed), Form A (Authority to Sign), Form B (schedule of previous contracts). All forms must be signed and completed; failure results in disqualification.

Capability requirements: two successfully completed contracts (min 3 years each, within last 12 years) in government/public entities; ICASA certification or authorised partner proof; key personnel with specified qualifications and experience; detailed methodology plan.

Evaluation in three stages: Mandatory, Capability, Price and Preference. 80/20 system: Price 80 points, Specific Goals 20 points. Price formula: Ps = 80(1 - (Pt - Pmin)/Pmin). Specific goals: HDI (51%+ black ownership) 8 points; Black women (51%+ women ownership) 4 points; Black youth (51%+ youth ownership) 4 points; People with disability (20%+ disabled ownership) 4 points. SBD 6.1 must be completed and signed to claim points.