Saps labware lims support and maintenance services – 36-Month contract

Procurement of a three-year South African Police Service (SAPS) Labware LIMS Support and Maintenance Services contract through SITA's open bid process. The Labware LIMS is integral to SAPS Forensic Laboratories (Forensic Science Administration, Biology and Chemistry) nationwide. The contract ensures continued business benefits including alpha, beta and released modules, all future LIMS application versions, all system bug fixes, and enhancements to LIMS modules. Services cover Labware LIMS Maintenance and Support for SAPS Forensic Sciences for three years, delivered at SITA Centurion (1108 John Vorster Drive, Centurion).

Publication date: 31 August 2026.

Non-compulsory virtual briefing session: 11 September 2026 at 11:00 (Microsoft Teams).

Closing date for questions/queries: 18 September 2026.

Bid closing date and time: 29 September 2026 at 11:00 South African Time.

Bid validity period: 120 days from closing date.

Procuring entity: State Information Technology Agency (SITA).

Delivery address for services: SITA Centurion, 1108 John Vorster Drive, Centurion.

Briefing session: Microsoft Teams link – https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/341757627272477?p=5KnTgEeFLZecnNjNng (Meeting ID: 341 757 627 272 477, Passcode: FZ3YW2oN).

Submission portal: SITA Supplier Oracle ERP portal – www.suppliers.sita.co.za.

No named SCM or technical contact persons, emails or phone numbers are provided in the document.

Submission channel: SITA Supplier Oracle ERP portal (www.suppliers.sita.co.za).

Closing: 29 September 2026 at 11:00 South African Time.

Validity period: 120 days from closing date.

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

• SBD 1 (Invitation to Bid): signed offer cover page with bidder and contact details.
• SBD 3.1/3.2/3.3 (Pricing Schedule): firm/non-firm/professional services pricing in the prescribed Excel spreadsheet format only; any other format will not be considered.
• SBD 4 (Declaration of Interest): discloses whether any director or shareholder is employed by the state or connected to anyone at SITA.
• SBD 6.1 (Preference Points Claim): claims B-BBEE points under the 80/20 or 90/10 system.
• SBD 6.2 (Declaration for Local Production and Content).
• SBD 7.1/7.2 (Contract Form): purchase of goods or rendering of services.
• SBD 8 (Declaration of Bidder's Past Supply Chain Management Practices).
• SBD 9 (Certificate of Independent Bid Determination): certifies price was set independently with no collusion.
• Authority to Sign / Board Resolution: authorises the named signatory to bind the bidder.
• Technical mandatory evidence: OEM/OSM or registered partner certificate/letter for Labware LIMS; reference letter(s) for at least one Labware LIMS support and maintenance customer in the past five years (on client letterhead with company name, reference person, contact details, scope, start and end dates); completed and signed Annex B (Technical Product/Service Functional Requirements); signed Declaration of Compliance and Acceptance of all Special Conditions of Contract; completed Annex C (Third-Party Risk Assessment).
• B-BBEE evidence: SANAS-accredited B-BBEE certificate or CIPC sworn affidavit (EME/QSE only); ID copies and/or medical certificate where claiming ownership points.
• CSD registration proof and valid tax compliance status PIN.

Disqualification risks:

• Any returnable form left unsigned or omitted.
• Bids received after the closing time.
• Failure to accept ALL Special Conditions of Contract.
• Failure to complete Annex C fully or accept its Declaration of Acceptance.
• Failure to submit reference letter(s) or complete Table 7 fully.
• Pricing submitted in any format other than the prescribed Excel spreadsheet.
• Counter conditions or qualified proposals not withdrawn when requested.

Briefing session: non-compulsory virtual session on 11 September 2026 at 11:00 via Microsoft Teams (Meeting ID: 341 757 627 272 477, Passcode: FZ3YW2oN). Attendance register must be signed using the same bidder company name, representative name and contact details as in the bid response. For joint ventures/consortiums, at least one party must have attended.

Four-stage evaluation; a bidder must pass each stage to proceed.

Stage 1 – Mandatory Administrative Responsiveness: CSD registration (National Treasury Instruction Note 4A of 2016/17); completion of all required SBD forms; briefing attendance register signed (non-compulsory but recorded).

Stage 2 – Technical Mandatory Responsiveness (all must be met):

1. Bidder is Labware LIMS OEM/OSM or registered partner (valid certificate/letter showing bidder name and OEM/OSM/partner status).
2. At least one verifiable Labware LIMS support and maintenance reference in the past five years from publication date (reference letter on client letterhead with company name, reference person name/tel/email, project scope, start and end dates; Table 7 completed).
3. Compliance with Technical Product/Service Functional Requirements for Labware LIMS support and maintenance (completed and signed Annex B).
4. Acceptance of ALL Special Conditions of Contract (signed Declaration of Compliance and Acceptance).
5. Completion of Third-Party Risk Assessment (all questions in Annex C answered and Declaration of Acceptance signed).

Stage 3 – Special Conditions of Contract Verification: acceptance of all SCC clauses; SITA reserves right to negotiate, disqualify for non-acceptance, or award to multiple bidders.

Stage 4 – Price and Preference Points: 80/20 system if lowest acceptable bid price ≤ R50 million (all taxes included); 90/10 system if lowest acceptable bid price > R50 million. Points: Price (80 or 90) + Specific Goals (20 or 10) = 100. Specific Goals = B-BBEE status (ownership: Black ≥51%, Woman >30%, Youth, People living with disabilities; EME/QSE status). Evidence: B-BBEE certificate (SANAS) or CIPC sworn affidavit (EME/QSE); ID copies; medical certificate for disability claims. Preference commitment is legally binding for contract duration; annual preference status reports due within 30 days of each quarterly anniversary; 1% penalty of prior year annual spend for non-compliance. SITA may verify any claim and apply ROE fluctuation only to foreign price component (USD/ZAR 16.15, EUR/ZAR 18.72, GBP/ZAR 21.88).

Scope: South African Police Service (SAPS) Forensic Sciences Labware LIMS Maintenance and Support Services for three years.

Service elements (per SITA/SAPS Annex I SLA):

• Full-Service Agreement (as per SLA).
• Time and Material (T&M Ad hoc services): not applicable.
• Service levels:

• Call Centre: Normal grade, 24x7x365 availability.

• Incident Response: Normal grade, maximum 4 hours.

• Incident Restore: Normal grade, maximum 8 hours.

• Gold Service: Gold grade, 99% availability.

Response times: Critical issues (total system failure) – 4 hours from call received or client advised if external cause; Non-critical issues (e.g. analyser communication problems) – 24 hours from call received or client advised if external cause.

Maintenance support: 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days per year for support calls logged by SITA.

Deliverables (pricing schedule items):

1. SAPS Annual Labware LIMS Support and Maintenance Services – Year 1.
2. SAPS Annual Labware LIMS Support and Maintenance Services – Year 2.
3. SAPS Annual Labware LIMS Support and Maintenance Services – Year 3.

Resources: Labware LIMS Support and Maintenance Services resources including skills transfer and training for Years 1, 2 and 3.

Customer infrastructure: SAPS application environments already exist; bidder supports existing Labware LIMS Maintenance and Support Services.

Certification and expertise: Bidder must have necessary expertise, skill, qualifications and ability; work performed by OSM/OEM-certified personnel; bidder certified for required products and services.

Regulatory and quality standards: Compliance with Trend Micro regulatory, Quality and Standards; ISO/IEC General Quality Standards, ISO 27001, POPIA; ISO 9001 for contract duration.

Security clearance: Company security screening by State Security Agency (SSA) may be required (company registration docs, director/member/trustee IDs, valid tax clearance). Individual security suitability checks by SITA (ID, qualifications, fingerprints, signed consent). Security clearance (Confidential/Secret/Top Secret) from SSA or Defence Intelligence if employees access classified information (Z204/DD1057 form, fingerprints, personal documentation).

Confidentiality: Non-disclosure agreement required before contract commencement covering all confidential information as defined (PAIA, marked confidential, contractual expectation, prejudice to rights, safety/security, trade secrets, commercial/financial/scientific/technical info, negotiations, public statements).

Guarantees and warranties: Warranty valid for contract duration after delivery, installation, commissioning and sign-off; rights title and interest free from encumbrances; products in good working order, free from defects, conforming to specifications.

Intellectual Property: SITA retains all IP rights; supplier granted non-exclusive licence for contract duration to use, copy, maintain, modify, enhance and create derivative works of SITA IP solely for providing services to SITA; supplier must cease use on termination/expiration/completion; supplier must certify return/destruction of SITA IP if required; SITA owns all bespoke IP; supplier retains pre-existing IP.

Business continuity: Written business continuity and disaster recovery plans defining roles, responsibilities and procedures to maintain services during disruptions.

Supplier due diligence: SITA may conduct pre-announced or unannounced site visits; misrepresentation may disqualify bid or contract.

Fronting: SITA will investigate fronting indicators per DTI Guidelines; failure to disprove within 14 days may invalidate bid/contract and restrict from public sector for up to 10 years.

Skills transfer and training: Free ongoing in-post training for SITA and client technical staff on safe operation, alarm events, primary causes and solutions; training material (instruction manuals) provided.

Logistical conditions: Office hours Mon–Fri 07:30–16:00; after hours 16:00–07:30; mission-critical sites 24x7x365; bidder uses own tools (cell phone, laptops, equipment); compliance with Protection of Information Act (Act 84 of 1982) when accessing client environment.

Counter conditions: Amendments to bid conditions or setting counter conditions may invalidate bid.

Pricing format: Total price VAT inclusive, quoted in South African Rand (ZAR); prescribed Excel spreadsheet format only (any other format not considered).

All quoted prices are total price for entire scope of services and deliverables; cost of delivery, labour, subsistence and travel, overtime, etc. must be included; additional costs clearly specified.

SITA reserves right to negotiate pricing with successful bidder prior to award and envisaged quantities.

Rate of Exchange: Bidders must provide total bid price with clear split between Local Price (not dependent on foreign exchange) and Foreign Price (dependent on foreign exchange). Exchange rates fixed for tender comparison: 1 USD = ZAR 16.15, 1 EUR = ZAR 18.72, 1 GBP = ZAR 21.88. ROE fluctuation applies only to foreign component; details negotiated during contracting.

Costing and Pricing Conditions acceptance: Bidder must declare ACCEPT ALL or DO NOT ACCEPT ALL (with reasons and proposals for each condition not accepted); failure to mark either defaults to DO NOT ACCEPT ALL and disqualifies bid.

No explicit performance bond, guarantee or insurance amounts stated. No minimum turnover or financial capacity threshold stated beyond SITA's right to conduct financial audit/probity before contract award to ascertain financial wherewithal.

Mandatory compliance:

• CSD registration (National Treasury Central Supplier Database) per Instruction Note 4A of 2016/17.
• Valid tax compliance status (SARS tax clearance certificate / tax PIN).
• Labware LIMS OEM/OSM or registered partner status (certificate/letter/license showing bidder name and relationship).
• At least one Labware LIMS support and maintenance reference in past five years (reference letter on client letterhead with required details).
• Acceptance of ALL Special Conditions of Contract (signed declaration).
• Completion of Third-Party Risk Assessment (Annex C) and its Declaration of Acceptance.
• B-BBEE certificate from SANAS-accredited agency OR CIPC sworn affidavit (EME/QSE only) for preference points; ID copies and/or medical certificate where claiming ownership points.
• CIPC registration documents used as evidence for preferential procurement compliance.
• Company security screening by SSA may be required (company registration docs, director IDs, tax clearance).
• Individual security suitability checks may be required (ID, qualifications, fingerprints, consent form).
• Security clearance (SSA or Defence Intelligence) if accessing classified information (Z204/DD1057 form, fingerprints, personal docs).
• Non-disclosure agreement signed before contract commencement.
• Compliance with ISO/IEC General Quality Standards, ISO 27001, POPIA, ISO 9001 for contract duration.
• Written business continuity and disaster recovery plans.
• Fronting prohibition: adherence to B-BBEE Act and DTI Guidelines on Complex Structures and Transactions and Fronting.

Returnable forms (one line each):

• SBD 1: signed offer cover page.
• SBD 3.1/3.2/3.3: pricing schedule in prescribed Excel format.
• SBD 4: declaration of interest (state employment/connection disclosure).
• SBD 6.1: preference points claim (80/20 or 90/10).
• SBD 6.2: local production and content declaration.
• SBD 7.1/7.2: contract form (goods/services).
• SBD 8: past SCM practices declaration.
• SBD 9: independent bid determination certificate.
• Authority to Sign / Board Resolution: authorises signatory.