Implementation of whatsapp business solution for opfa with 6-month delivery and 18-month support

Closing date: 29 September 2026. Closing time: 11h00. Enquiry deadline: 18 September 2026 (enquiries to [email protected]). No tender briefing session (not compulsory). Bid validity: 120 days from closing date.

No tender briefing session will be held. Enquiries must be sent to [email protected] no later than 18 September 2026. Enquiries received after this date will not be responded to.

Bidding procedure enquiries: Lufuno Balibali, Tel: 012 748 4002, Email: [email protected]. Technical enquiries: Magadi Tshitannye, Tel: 012 748 4048, Email: [email protected]. OPFA physical address: 4th Floor, Riverwalk Office Park, Block A, 41 Matroosberg Road, Ashlea Gardens, Pretoria, 0081. Postal address: P.O. Box 580, Menlyn, 0063. General tel: 012 346 1738, Fax: 086 693 7472.

Submission method: hand-delivered only to OPFA, 4th Floor, Riverwalk Office Park, Block A, 41 Matroosberg Road, Ashlea Gardens, Pretoria, 0081. Bids must be sealed, clearly marked, and received on or before 29 September 2026 at 11h00. No electronic, email, fax, telegram, or late submissions accepted. Required returnable documents: Master Bid Document (bound), Electronic copy (USB/compact disc) identical to master, SBD 1 (Invitation to Bid) completed and signed, Pricing schedule completed, SBD 4 (Bidder's Disclosure) completed and signed, SBD 6.1 (Preference Points Claim) completed and signed, CSD registration number (MAAA), Sworn declaration on retirement fund participation with administrator confirmation. Proof of authority to sign (e.g. company resolution) must accompany the bid. Bid validity period: 120 days from closing date.

Required submissions: Master Bid Document (bound), Electronic copy (USB/compact disc), SBD 1 (Invitation to Bid), CSD registration number, Pricing schedule, SBD 4 (Bidders Disclosure), SBD 6.1 (Preference points claim form), Sworn declaration on retirement fund status with administrator confirmation. Bids must be hand-delivered to OPFA address, sealed and clearly marked. No electronic, email, fax or late submissions accepted.

Four-stage evaluation. Stage 1: Administrative and Compliance — mandatory documents (SBD 1, SBD 4, SBD 6.1, pricing schedule, master bid document, electronic copy, CSD registration, adherence to closing time). Non-submission disqualifies. Stage 2: Functionality Evaluation — minimum 75/100 points required to proceed. Criteria: Bidder Experience (25 points) — 3+ reference letters for WhatsApp Business solution implementation in past 3 years with third-party integration; Project Team Experience (30 points) — 3 CVs with minimum 2 years WhatsApp Business solution development, implementation, integration, maintenance and support; Project Plan (15 points) — detailed 6-month plan with phases, milestones, resources, go-live approach; Methodology and Proposal (30 points) — data protection/security, backup/business continuity, local support/SLA capability. Stage 3: Price and Preference Points — 80/20 system (80 price, 20 specific goals). Specific goals: 51%+ black ownership (5), 51%+ black women ownership (5), 30%+ disability ownership (3), 30%+ youth ownership (3), EME/QSE (4). Proof: CSD report, B-BBEE certificate, sworn affidavit, or CIPC report. Stage 4: not detailed in document.

Scope: design, develop, implement, maintain and support a WhatsApp Business solution for OPFA. Deliver completed solution within 6 months from appointment; Phase 1 (MVP) within 3 months. Two-phase implementation possible. Phase deliverables: Project Initiation (PID, Project Plan, Communication Plan, Change Management Plan, Risk Register); Business Analysis & Requirements Validation (Business Requirements & Technical Specification, Solution Architecture & Design); WhatsApp Platform Enablement (Business Account & Cloud API Setup, Verification Support); Solution Development & Integration (Configured WhatsApp Platform with business requirements); Testing & QA (Test Plans, Test Results, Defect Logs, UAT Sign-Off); Training, Deployment & Go-Live (Training Material, User/Admin Guides, Deployment Plan, Go-Live Sign-Off); Maintenance & Project Closure (Post Go-Live Support, SLA Maintenance, DR Configuration, Monthly Reports, Updated Documentation, Closure Report, Final Handover). Maintenance & support: 18 months across all ICT environments. SLA targets: Normal incidents — respond 1h, repair 8h, 95% target, 3% penalty; Critical incidents — respond 1h, repair 4h, 95% target, 3% penalty; Service requests — respond 1h, repair 8h, 95% target, 3% penalty; Enhancement requests — respond 1h, repair 4h, 95% target, 3% penalty; Problem management — repair 40h, 90% target, 3% penalty; Root cause analysis — repair 40h, 100% target, 3% penalty; Reports — as agreed, 100% target, 5% penalty. Monthly maintenance weekends for patches and integration testing. DR: Veeam backup, data sync at 15-min intervals, DR tests participation, step-by-step DR manual. Backup testing minimum 3 times/year. Continuous improvement: 100 hours provision for ad-hoc services via approved statement of work. Integration: Respond case management system (REST/XML APIs for retrieve, create, update, search cases), SharePoint Online, Microsoft Active Directory (on-prem), optional Entra ID (Azure AD), Microsoft 365. Digital channels: OPFA website, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, WhatsApp channel. Business requirements: complaint tracking, case status, FAQs, complaint lodging via URL, settlement confirmation; customer info update with identity verification; document upload/download (ID copies, payslips, determinations) with secure storage/transfer to Respond; usability — structured conversations, rich menus, chatbot/AI, intent recognition, NLP, escalation to human agents, exception handling; notifications — reference number, case status, service, reminders, broadcast, marketing, OTP, authentication; security — RBAC, MFA, secure API, end-to-end encryption, data masking, audit logging, session management, vulnerability management, DR/backup; compliance — POPIA, ECT Act, cybersecurity best practices, WhatsApp/Meta policies; consent capture, records, opt-out; reporting — dashboard, usage, volume, performance, customer satisfaction, agent performance, chatbot analytics, message delivery, audit, exportable PDF/Excel; performance — high volume/concurrency, 3-second response, high availability, load balancing, business continuity.

Bidder must have successfully developed, implemented, maintained and supported a WhatsApp Business solution in past 3 years in organisations with comparable requirements, including integration with third-party systems. Documentary evidence via verifiable reference letters with organisation name, contact person, telephone, contract duration and nature of services. Project team: minimum 3 CVs with 2+ years experience in WhatsApp Business solution development, implementation, integration, maintenance and support.

Testing and Quality Assurance phase deliverables: Test Plans, Test Results, Defect Logs, UAT Sign-Off. Corrective, Adaptive, Perfective & Preventative Maintenance at least once monthly during maintenance weekends including WhatsApp patches and integration testing. System availability and performance monitoring end-to-end. Backup testing minimum three times per year per OPFA backup policy. Document upkeep for all solution documentation, training material and recordings.

Firm pricing schedule with three components: Project Implementation (6 months), Maintenance and Support (18 months post-implementation), Continuous Improvements (100 hours provision). Bidders may use own template but final price must transfer to provided schedule. Total bid price excluding VAT, VAT, total including VAT, and bid price in words required. Monthly invoicing for maintenance/support preceded by monthly report and SLA performance review. Penalties applied per SLA: 3% of monthly invoice for incident/service request/problem management targets missed, 5% for reporting targets missed. Continuous improvement billed only for actual work done and signed off.

Firm pricing schedule with three components: Project Implementation (6 months), Maintenance and Support (18 months post-implementation), Continuous Improvements (100 hours provision). Bidders may use own template but final price must transfer to provided schedule. Total bid price excluding VAT, VAT amount, total including VAT, and bid price in words required. Maintenance/support invoicing monthly after service delivery, preceded by monthly report and SLA performance review. Penalties per SLA: 3% of monthly invoice for missed incident/service request/problem management targets, 5% for missed reporting targets. Continuous improvement billed only for actual work done and signed off by OPFA.

CSD registration mandatory (MAAA number). Tax compliance: SARS TCS PIN or printed TCS certificate; if no PIN, CSD number acceptable. Each consortium/joint venture party must submit separate TCS/PIN/CSD. No bids from persons in service of state, companies with directors in state service, or close corporations with members in state service. B-BBEE: status level verification certificate or sworn affidavit (EMEs/QSEs) required to claim preference points. SBD 1 (Invitation to Bid), SBD 4 (Bidder's Disclosure), SBD 6.1 (Preference Points Claim) must be completed and signed. Sworn declaration on retirement fund participation: either not participating/contributing, or participating with contributions not in arrears (proof from retirement fund administrator required). Solution must comply with POPIA, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, cybersecurity best practices, WhatsApp Business Platform policies, Meta business policies. Consent capture, records, and opt-out management per privacy legislation. Local South African presence required for post-implementation support.

B-BBEE status level verification certificate or sworn affidavit (for EMEs/QSEs) must be submitted to qualify for preference points. Preference points allocated for specific goals: 51%+ black ownership (5 points), 51%+ black women ownership (5), 30%+ disability ownership (3), 30%+ youth ownership (3), EME/QSE status (4). Proof required: CSD report, B-BBEE certificate, sworn affidavit, or CIPC report. 80/20 preference point system applies (80 price, 20 specific goals).

Disaster Recovery and Tests: participation in pre and actual DR tests, creation of step-by-step DR manual for starting solution in DR and production, participation in setting up backup using Veeam Backup solution with data synchronisation at minimum 15-minute intervals, restoring services at DR site in case of major incident or disaster. Backup Services: ensuring full backup via OPFA Veeam solution, testing backups per OPFA policy (minimum three times yearly).

General undertakings: OPFA will not accept bid if bidder/directors/shareholders are restricted from state business, employed by state, involved in corrupt acts, acted fraudulently, influenced award, unable to execute contract, engaged in anti-competitive behaviour, or disclosed bid information improperly. OPFA may cancel contract and/or debar bidder. Award may be subject to price negotiation with highest point scorer if price not market-related. Bid subject to PPPFA 2000, Preferential Procurement Regulations 2022, General Conditions of Contract (GCC), and special conditions. Successful bidder must sign SBD 7 contract form. Tax compliance: SARS PIN or TCS certificate required, CSD number if no PIN. No bids from persons in service of state.

Protection of Personal Information (POPIA) compliance: parties must comply with POPIA Regulations and Codes of Conduct, collect/use/process PI lawfully and only as required, maintain appropriate physical/technological/contractual security measures, notify immediately of PI breaches, not disclose PI to third parties without written consent, not transfer PI outside South Africa. Bidder rights: request correction/deletion/destruction of PI via POPIA Form 2, object to processing via Form 1. Solution must comply with POPIA, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, cybersecurity best practices, WhatsApp Business Platform policies and Meta business policies. Consent capture, records and opt-out management required per privacy legislation.

Bidders must be registered on the Central Supplier Database (CSD) and provide CSD registration number. Mandatory documents: Master Bid Document (bound), Electronic copy (USB/compact disc), Invitation to Bid (SBD 1) duly completed and signed, Pricing schedule duly completed, SBD 4 - Bidders Disclosure duly completed and signed, SBD 6.1 Preference points claim form duly completed and signed. Adherence to closing date and time (29 September 2026 at 11h00). Bid validity period: 120 days from closing. Additional requirement: Sworn declaration regarding retirement fund participation and contribution status with proof from retirement fund administrator.

Four-stage evaluation: Stage 1 - Administrative and Compliance (mandatory documents); Stage 2 - Functionality Evaluation (minimum 75/100 points to proceed); Stage 3 - Price and Preference Points (80/20 system); Stage 4 - not detailed. Functionality criteria: 1) Bidder Experience (25 points) - 3+ reference letters for WhatsApp Business solution implementation in past 3 years with integration experience; 2) Project Team Experience (30 points) - 3 CVs with minimum 2 years WhatsApp Business solution experience; 3) Project Plan (15 points) - detailed plan for 6-month delivery with phases, milestones, resources, go-live approach; 4) Methodology and Proposal (30 points) - data protection/security, backup/business continuity, local support/SLA capability. Preference points: 51%+ black ownership (5), 51%+ black women ownership (5), 30%+ disability ownership (3), 30%+ youth ownership (3), EME/QSE (4). Total 20 points.