Tender Application Workspace for RFQ GSM087/2026

• Submission method
• Email only, to [email protected].
• Attachment limit: 2MB per email.
• Larger submissions must be split across several emails or supplied as a downloadable link;
• SAA accepts no responsibility for links that are corrupt or cannot be opened.
• Quotations received after the closing time will not be considered. Late or incomplete submissions invalidate the quote and disqualify the bidder.
• Returnable documents (all must accompany the quote)
• SAA Vendor application form and supporting documents (Annexure 1).
• SBD 4 Declaration of Interest (Annexure 2): discloses any director, shareholder or official connection to the state; a false declaration disqualifies the bid.
• SAA General Conditions of Contract, signed and accepted (Annexure 3).
• Job descriptions for the roles in scope (Annexure 4).
• Original Tax Clearance Certificate where SAA does not already hold a valid one.
• Written quote form completed with vendor name, postal address, telephone, cell, email and contact person, signed by an authorised signatory with capacity stated.
• Disqualification risks
• Late or incomplete quotation.
• Any returnable document omitted or unsigned.
• A "No" answer to any Phase 1 statement of compliance.
• Missing reference letters or CVs.
• If not quoting, notify the relevant procurement official by return email.
• Bids must be submitted in accordance with the instructions in the bidding documents.

+ 16 more requirements in the full document analysis

• Evaluation is based on the qualifications and experience of the named resources proposed.
• Bidders must submit evidence of each resource's qualifications and experience.
• Mandatory minimum requirements per role:
• Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect: Bachelor's degree in IT/Information Systems/Computer Science or NQF Level 8 equivalent;
• 15+ years in enterprise software engineering or technology leadership;
• 10+ years in airline/travel technology;
• 5+ years in solution/enterprise architecture or technical design authority.
• AWS Cloud-Native Java/EKS Engineer: current AWS certification (evidence must be submitted with the bid); 5+ years professional Java development; production experience with AWS, EKS, and Kubernetes.
• Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer: relevant diploma/degree or equivalent experience;
• 7+ years professional application development; production experience with React/React Native and Java/Spring Boot.
• Prior airline, travel, loyalty, or e-commerce experience is mandatory for all roles.
• Five stages, generally sequential (SAA may run stages in parallel; being evaluated at one stage does not mean earlier stages were passed).
• Step 1 — Administrative responsiveness
• All returnable documents completed, returned by the closing date and time, and valid; bid signed by an authorised respondent.
• Step 2 — Substantive responsiveness (mandatory, 100% compliance)
• Each statement of compliance must be answered with supporting evidence. A "No" answer is treated as non-compliant and disqualifies the bid.
• Required: 7 years' IT resource experience in the airline industry, evidenced by at least one aviation reference letter;
• 2 years' AWS cloud migration and maintenance experience, evidenced by at least one aviation reference letter.
• Step 3 — Technical functionality (100 points, minimum qualifying score 70%)
• AMADEUS eRetail/RefX experience: 40 points. Minimum 2 years' experience plus one fully compliant client reference letter = 40; no letter or a non-compliant letter = 0.

+ 18 more requirements in the full document analysis

• Scope: provision of three named IT resources to support migration to a new AWS stack at SAA.
• Principal-level architecture leadership for SAA customer-facing and operational digital platforms.
• Own current-state, transition and target architecture for flysaa.com (shopping, booking, payment, check-in, manage-booking, corporate travel, loyalty, mobile).
• Lead integrations with Amadeus Altéa, RefX, payment providers, loyalty, Star Alliance.
• Define cloud/hybrid architecture on AWS (EKS, containerisation, networking, security, observability, DR).
• Chair design authority reviews; produce solution architecture documents, ADRs, interface specs.
• Provide escalation leadership for critical incidents.
• Design, build, deploy and support Java/Spring Boot services on AWS.
• Containerise with Docker; deploy on Amazon EKS/Kubernetes.
• Maintain Helm charts, CI/CD pipelines, security and observability.
• Troubleshoot production issues across application, container, cluster, network layers.
• Develop cross-platform iOS/Android apps (React Native) and responsive web (React/TypeScript).
• Build supporting Java/Spring Boot services for integration.
• Implement customer journeys: authentication, loyalty, flight search, booking, check-in, notifications.
• Manage mobile releases to Apple App Store and Google Play.
• All roles: full-time named resources with release and production-support participation. Knowledge transfer to SAA personnel required.
• Supply IT resources to support SAA's IT infrastructure (hardware, software, network, security and related services) while the airline migrates from on-premises systems to a new AWS stack and continues running the existing on-premises systems.
• Roles required (minimum 2 CVs per role)
• Bidder experience
• At least 7 years providing IT resources for large-scale enterprise projects, of which at least 3 years in AWS cloud migration and maintenance.

+ 27 more requirements in the full document analysis

• Mobilisation and lead time
• Bidders must state, in weeks, how long after contract award they need to mobilise, onboard and make the proposed resources available for project commencement.
• The timeline must be realistic and supported by a brief mobilisation approach.
• CV submission
• CVs must include professional certifications, references, a minimum IT diploma qualification, and demonstrated domain experience in aviation, financials, telecoms, online gambling or ecommerce.

• 5+ years in architecture roles; hands-on experience with airline journeys and Amadeus Altéa integration;
• AWS/Kubernetes experience.
• AWS Engineer: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/IT/Software Engineering or equivalent; current AWS certification;
• 5+ years Java development; production experience with AWS, EKS, Kubernetes, Docker, Helm, CI/CD.
• Bidder track record
• Individual resources

• Quality expectations include: non-functional requirements covering availability, response time, throughput, data protection, auditability, accessibility, supportability and recovery objectives.
• Engineering quality requires unit/integration testing, code review, static analysis, dependency scanning, build automation and release traceability.
• Architecture and design must reflect PCI DSS, POPIA and SAA governance obligations.
• The purchaser may inspect, test, and analyze goods during production or after delivery.
• Non-conforming goods may be rejected.
• Pre-bidding testing costs are for the bidder.
• If inspections pass, the purchaser pays; if they fail, the supplier pays.

• Pricing schedule
• Onshore: one Lead Airline Digital Solutions Architect, one AWS Cloud-Native Java/EKS Engineer, one Senior Mobile and Digital Applications Developer — hourly rate and daily rate each.
• Preference points
• Total specific goals: 20 points.

• Pricing format
• Quote an hourly rate and a daily rate for each of the three roles, separately for onshore and offshore delivery, one resource per role.
• The pricing schedule columns are marked "Including VAT", while the standard conditions require prices to be exclusive of VAT. Bidders should confirm the basis with SAA before submitting.
• Prices must be firm and fixed; only statutory VAT changes may alter them.
• Pricing must be broken down by individual component of the solution, based on the technical and functional requirements.
• Service, pricing and availability are all taken into consideration.
• Other financial requirements
• No bid security, performance guarantee, retention or turnover threshold is stated.
• All purchases are made on an official SAA purchase order; no goods or services may be delivered before an official order or contract is received.
• Performance security: within 30 days of notification of contract award, the successful bidder must furnish performance security of the amount specified in the Special Conditions of Contract.
• The performance security may be a bank guarantee, irrevocable letter of credit, or cashier's/certified cheque, and will be returned no later than 30 days after completion of the supplier's obligations.
• Payment will be made within 30 days after submission of a valid invoice.
• Prices are in Rand unless otherwise stated in the SCC.
• Penalties may be deducted for late delivery, calculated using the current prime interest rate per day of delay.
• Payment terms: 15 days from invoice, subject to GSM Approval Schedule.

• B-BBEE Minimum Level: 8
• Mandatory returnable documents
• SBD 4 Declaration of Interest (Annexure 2): discloses any interest held by directors, shareholders or officials connected to the state; a false declaration disqualifies the bid.
• Experience and qualifications
• Reference letters must show client name, project description, start and end dates, and be signed by an authorised official.
• Each candidate: minimum 7 years' experience, National Diploma in IT, relevant field certification, certified copies of qualifications, and at least 3 project-specific reference letters from the last 7 years.
• A resource that does not meet the experience or qualification minimum disqualifies the service provider.
• Evidence accepted: B-BBEE certificate, sworn affidavit or CIPC certificate; a consolidated scorecard is accepted for joint ventures.
• EMEs and QSEs that are 51% black owned may use a sworn affidavit or CIPC certificate.
• No CIDB grading applies; this is not construction work.
• Disqualification
• A bidder listed on the Register for Tender Defaulters or the List of Restricted Suppliers is automatically excluded from the process.
• Omitting any active CSD-registered company linked to a director leads to disqualification.
• A disclosure found to be false disqualifies the bid.
• SBD 4 (Bidder's Disclosure) — must be completed and signed
• Discloses whether the bidder, or any of its directors, trustees, shareholders, members or partners, is employed by an organ of state, and whether anyone connected to the bidder is employed by the procuring institution.
• Discloses any interest the bidder or its controlling interests hold in other enterprises, listing all CSD-registered companies involved.
• The signatory confirms the bid was prepared independently, with no consultation or arrangement with competitors on price, quality, quantity, specifications, market allocation or the decision to bid, and that the bid terms were not revealed to competitors before bid opening or aw…
• Suspicious bids may be referred to the Competition Commission or to law enforcement, and a bidder may be barred from doing business with the state for up to 10 years.
• Original SARS tax clearance certificate required before award.

+ 4 more requirements in the full document analysis

• All roles must transfer knowledge to SAA personnel and maintain documentation, runbooks and support procedures.
• Cost effectiveness
• Roles to be supplied
• The contract is governed by the General Conditions of Contract (GCC), which cannot be amended. Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) supplement the GCC; where they conflict, the SCC prevails.
• Confidentiality: The supplier may not disclose contract details or specifications without the purchaser's prior written consent.
• Patent rights: The supplier indemnifies the purchaser against third-party claims of infringement.
• Inspections: Premises open for inspection; failed inspections or rejected goods are at the supplier's cost.
• Delivery and documents: Delivery as per contract; documents specified in SCC.
• Incidental services: On-site assembly, commissioning, manuals, maintenance, and training may be required.
• Spare parts: Required to supply spare parts and notify of termination of production.
• Warranty: Goods new and defect-free; warranty 12 months after delivery/acceptance or 18 months after shipment, whichever ends earlier.
• Contract amendments: Only by written amendment signed by both parties.
• Assignment: Not allowed without consent.
• Subcontracts: Must be notified in writing.
• Delays: Supplier must notify of delays; penalties may be applied; purchaser may buy substitute goods at supplier's expense.
• Termination for default: Purchaser may terminate for failure to deliver, breach, or corrupt/fraudulent practice; may restrict supplier from doing business with public sector up to 10 years.
• Force majeure: Relief from penalties if delay due to force majeure.
• Termination for insolvency: Purchaser may terminate without compensation.
• Disputes: Amicable resolution, then mediation, then South African courts.
• Limitation of liability: Supplier not liable for indirect/consequential loss; aggregate liability limited to total contract price.

+ 3 more requirements in the full document analysis

• Bidders must support technical due diligence, effort estimation and procurement evaluations.
• Experience with Agile delivery, DevOps practices, technical assurance and code-quality governance is required.
• Scrum or Agile certification is advantageous.
• Evaluation runs through administrative responsiveness, substantive responsiveness, technical functionality, price and specific goals, then post-tender negotiation before a letter of award.
• Substantive stage: mandatory returnable documents and statements of compliance, with 100% compliance required.
• Technical functionality: scored out of 100 with a minimum qualifying score of 70%.
• Stages are normally sequential, but SAA may run them in parallel; evaluation at any stage does not confirm that earlier stages were passed.