How to Get Government Tenders in South Africa: The 2026 Guide

Government buys roughly R1 trillion of goods and services a year, and the law forces it to buy a meaningful share from small businesses. Yet most SMMEs never bid, and most that do get disqualified on paperwork, not price. This guide is the whole path, in order.

Step 1: Register on the CSD (it is free)

The Central Supplier Database (csd.gov.za) is government's master supplier list. Without an active CSD number (it starts with MAAA) you cannot be awarded any public contract. You need your company registration, tax pin, bank details and ID numbers of directors. It costs nothing and takes a few days to verify. If you would rather not fight the portal, Vula handles registration as a once-off service.

Step 2: Sort your compliance pack before you bid

• Tax clearance pin from SARS, valid and re-checked before every bid
• B-BBEE certificate or, if your turnover is under R10M, a free EME sworn affidavit
• COIDA letter of good standing if you employ people
• Industry registrations where relevant: CIDB for construction, PSIRA for security
• Company profile, bank confirmation letter, certified director IDs

Most bids are lost here. A single expired certificate or missing returnable document disqualifies you before price is even opened.

Step 3: Find tenders before your competitors do

Every public tender is published on National Treasury's eTenders portal, plus provincial portals and municipal websites. That is 14+ places to check daily. An aggregator does this for you: Vula syncs the official OCDS feed continuously, lets you search free without signing up, and sends a WhatsApp brief each morning with tenders matched to your industry and province.

Step 4: Understand how bids are scored

Most tenders use the 80/20 system (under R50M): 80 points for price, 20 for your B-BBEE level. Large tenders use 90/10. A Level 1 supplier gets all 20 preference points; Level 4 gets 12. If competitors price the same as you, B-BBEE decides the winner. Check the level a tender favours before you spend a week on it.

Step 5: Submit a complete, on-time bid

• Buy or download the full tender pack and read the special conditions first
• Attend the briefing session if it is compulsory; missing it disqualifies you
• Complete every SBD form (4, 6.1, 8, 9 are the usual suspects)
• Deliver before the closing time; one minute late is disqualified