This week’s round of opportunities from National Treasury’s eTenders Portal favours the hardware sector with several entities looking to address infrastructure requirements. Notably, most of these tenders feature compulsory briefings to ensure the scope of work is properly understood by bidders.
Nevertheless, it is the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) that takes top spot as it begins to prepare its technology landscape for this year’s electoral timetable.
In July last year, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs said it appreciated the “strong introspection” on the part of the IEC following its receipt of the overall 2024 national and provincial elections report. The committee also stated that this would create a platform for self-correction and strengthened electoral processes.
“The areas of improvement identified by the IEC, such as challenges with the IT system, faults with the voter management devices, voting station inefficiencies and the need for improved training of electoral staff assure the committee that the Commission is doing everything to improve the quality of voting experience and efficiency of a voting station,” said Mosa Chabane, the Chairperson of the committee.
The IEC is now inviting bids from internet service providers (ISPs) for public website hosting for a period not exceeding 12 months from 1 March 2026. This is needed to cater for the Local Government Elections 2026, it says.
According to the tender documentation, the successful bidder will be required to provide a number of virtual machines for the web sites, application program interface (API) and maps services, as well as provide data storage facility.
The IEC says it will provide security infrastructure in the form of Fortinet equipment and licenses, and the service provider will be required to configure these to secure the website over and above at their own hosting security environment.
Notably this will be a consumption-based requirement where the commission will only pay for the infrastructure and services utilised during the hosting period.
The commission explains that during elections it prefers to host the public website at an ISP – and away from its data centre – for two reasons.
Up first is that being hosted at an ISP means the internet access not being limited to the physical line capacity between the ISP and the Electoral Commission. This means that internet connectivity can be scaled up or down at request to allow good response times as and when needed.
Secondly, other infrastructure elements such as servers and storage can be increased much quicker and easier as the need arises than at the IEC’s data centre, it explains.
The commission will hold a non-compulsory briefing on 21 January over Zoom before closing submissions on 4 February.
Other tenders that make this week’s top 10:
- The Airports Company of South Africa is inviting proposals for the supply, installation, commissioning, support, maintenance, monitoring, decommissioning and disposal of its existing and new data protection (backup and replication) and data storage (storage array and storage networking) systems and services for a period of 60 months. This is required at all airports and the Aviation Park
ACSA is also calling for the comprehensive supply, installation, commissioning, support and maintenance of IT network, IP telephony and IT security infrastructure services for a maximum period of 60 months. As a critical enabler of its operations, ACSA says it’s seeking a strategic partner to deliver robust, reliable, and innovative solutions that align with its commitment to operational excellence and technological advancement.
Finally, the company requires the services of a suitable, qualified, and certified provider to supply, install, commission, support, maintain, decommission, and dispose of virtual and physical compute infrastructure at all ACSA sites for a period of 60 months. The objective of the project is to provide a uniform, reliable, scalable, and resilient IT server and virtualisation infrastructure to ACSA.
The State Information Technology Agency wishes to procure SolarWinds network monitoring and management system tool licenses, maintenance and support for the Department of Water and Sanitation over a period of 36 months. The agency notes the current contract is soon set to expire and requires renewal.
The Eastern Cape Officer of the Premier is looking for a service provider to provide a managed cloud-based payroll system for stipend administration for a period of 24 months. The office notes it is implementing several strategic skills development initiatives, including the NSF-funded Graduate Development and Placement Programme, which targets 3 800 young people across the province. To ensure the effective and seamless implementation of this large-scale programme, it is essential that it procures a payroll system that is fully compatible with the VIP payroll environment through an open and transparent tender process, the office says.
Limpopo’s Department of Education is calling for a service provider to conduct an education management information system (EMIS) data quality audit in 250 public and independent schools within a four month period. The EMIS collects, processes, reports and disseminates education data and information to support planning, decision-making and the effective monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the education system in the Limpopo Department of Education. The department says it must outsource the quality assurance of its EMIS data collection to a service provider at least once every three years.
The South African Weather Service is seeking for a supplier to supply and deliver enterprise server infrastructure with all relevant accessories. The servers supplied must be with a 5-year warranty and Pro Support 4hr mission critical support. The hardware will be used for research and disaster recovery purposes and must be capable of handling the increased CPU and disk requirements for the next 5 years, it says.
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission is inviting bidders to submit proposals for the design, implementation of and support of an AI-powered multi-channel transactional chatbot. With increasing demand for digital services, the CIPC notes it receives a high volume of customer queries and service requests across multiple communication channels, including call centres, emails, walk-ins, and social media platforms. While many of these queries are general, a significant portion is transactional in nature, requiring customers to access entity records and/or data. The CIPC believes the AI-powered chatbot will improve efficiency, responsiveness, and customer experience.
The National Lotteries Commission wishes to appoint a service provider to supply, install, configure, integrate and support a supermicro-based high availability computing cluster solution for a period of three years. The commission says the self-contained, high-availability cluster will comprise computing servers, a high-performance data storage platform, and network/fabric switches to enhance resilience, performance, and continuity of critical ICT services.
New tenders
Airports Company of South Africa
Proposals are invited for the supply, installation, commissioning, support, maintenance, monitoring, decommissioning and disposal of data protection (backup and replication) and data storage (storage array and storage networking) services for a period of 60 months.
Compulsory briefing: 19 January – Microsoft Teams.
Tender no: COR8086/2025/RFP
Information: Sydney Mfeka, Tel: 011-723-1483, E-mail: Sydney.Mfeka@airports.co.za.
Closing date: 20 February 2026
Tags: hardware, storage, backup, networking, services, support and maintenance
ACSA is also calling for the supply, installation, commissioning, support and maintenance of IT network, IP telephony and IT security infrastructure services for a maximum period of 60 months.
Compulsory briefing: 19 January – Microsoft Teams.
Tender no: COR8084/2025/RFP
Information: Sydney Mfeka, Tel: 011-723-1483, E-mail: Sydney.Mfeka@airports.co.za.
Closing date: 20 February 2026
Tags: hardware, networking, telephony, security, services, support and maintenance
Supply, installation, commissioning, support and maintenance of IT compute services is also sought for a period of 60 months.
Compulsory briefing: 19 January – Microsoft Teams.
Tender no: COR8097/2025/RFP
Information: Sydney Mfeka, Tel: 011-723-1483, E-mail: Sydney.Mfeka@airports.co.za.
Closing date: 20 February 2026
Tags: hardware, computing, services, support and maintenance
State Information Technology Agency
The agency wishes to procure SolarWinds network monitoring and management system tool licenses, maintenance and support over a period of thirty-six (36) months for the Department of Water and Sanitation.
Non-compulsory briefing: 16 January – Microsoft Teams.
Tender no: RFB 3196-2025
Information: Thato Meso, Tel: 012-482-2595, E-mail: thato.meso@sita.co.za.
Closing date: 3 February 2026
Tags: software, networking, network monitoring, network management, software licensing, services, support and maintenance
Officer of the Premier, Eastern Cape
A service provider is sought to provide a managed cloud-based payroll system for stipend administration for the Eastern Cape Office of the Premier for a period of twenty-four (24) months.
Compulsory briefing: 19 January, Meeting ID: 349 960 490 988 42, Passcode: 4f5e2ZL9
Note: A certification demonstrating compliance with relevant industry standards is required. The service provider must hold and provide proof of a valid, direct license for the payroll system, ensuring that the system is owned and managed by the service provider themselves. Submissions from intermediaries, resellers, no third-party agents acting on behalf of the license holder will be accepted.
Tender no: scmu1-25/26-0006
Information: Loyiso Manyela, Tel: 073-411-6077, E-mail: Loyiso.Manyela@ecotp.gov.za.
Closing date: 3 February 2026
Tags: software, software-as-a-service, cloud computing, payroll
Department of Education, Limpopo
The provincial department is looking for a service provider to conduct an education management information system (EMIS) data quality audit (DQA) in 250 schools (public and independent) within a four (04) months period.
Compulsory briefing: 16 January
Tender no: LDE/B03/2025/26RE
Information: G.S.S Mabunda, Tel: 015-290-7670, E-mail: MabundaGSS@edu.limpopo.gov.za.
Closing date: 30 January 2026
Tags: services, consulting, professional services, IT audit, data quality audit
South African Weather Service
Bids are invited for the supply and delivery of enterprise server infrastructure with 5-year warranty and support.
Tender no: Bid Number: SAWS-438/25
Information: Maletsatsi Sekhampu, Tel: 012-367-6172, E-mail: tsatsi.sekhampu@weathersa.co.za.
Closing date: 20 January 2026
Tags: hardware, servers, services, support and maintenance
Electoral Commission
The IEC is calling for bids for public website hosting.
Non-compulsory briefing: 21 January
Tender no: 0010556418
Information: Yash Sookan, Tel: 012-622-5700, E-mail: Sookany@elections.org.za.
Closing date: 4 February 2026
Tags: services, hosting, website
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission
Bidders are invited to submit proposals for the implementation of an AI-powered multi-channel transactional chatbot for the CIPC.
Compulsory briefing: 19 January – Microsoft Teams, Link.
Note: Bids should be delivered to the bid box situated at the main gate on 77 Meintjies Street, Sunnyside, “the dtic” Campus, Pretoria. Important to note: the CIPC tender box has the following description: “CIPC tender box”. It is the responsibility of the prospective bidders to deposit tenders in the correct box and tenders deposited in wrong boxes will not be considered.
Tender no: CIPC BID NUMBER:10/2025/2026
Information: Ntombi Maqhula, Tel: 012-394-5344, E-mail: nmaqhula@cipc.co.za.
Closing date: 6 February 2026
Tags: software, artificial intelligence, chatbot
National Lotteries Commission
The commission wishes to appoint a service provider to supply, install, configure, integrate and support a supermicro-based high availability computing cluster solution for a period of three (3) years.
Compulsory briefing: 20 January.
Tender no: NLC2025-021
Information: SCM, Tel: 012-432-1309, E-mail: lucky@nlcsa.org.za.
Closing date: 30 January 2026
Tags: hardware, computing, services, support and maintenance
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