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How a tender process works

Durban - A tender to provide mobile clinics to the health department in KwaZulu-Natal has made news for its costs and processes.

But how does a tender process work, and how should it have worked with tender ZNB 9281/2012-H?

What follows is a simplified version of how the process to acquire the mobile health units might have happened.

Someone in a managerial position possibly decided there were many remote areas in his or her district where it would not be feasible to maintain a full time clinic or hospital. The solution? A mobile unit to be brought in when needed.

A district manager might have motivated for the department to acquire such a vehicle. Once the idea is agreed on in principle, a specifications committee meets to determine what these vehicles need.

The committee would decide, for example, if it should be all terrain or not, if it should have an ultrasound machine or a television for patients to watch while waiting for a consultation, and what sort of computer system so doctors could access department records.

Once these parameters are ironed out, an invitation to tender is published in the Tender Bulletin with a closing date and contact details to get the full tender specifications.

Appropriateness and value

By the closing date all interested parties should have submitted their bids. A bid evaluation committee then checks that the bids clear the necessary administrative hurdles.

These include meeting broad-based black economic empowerment requirements, and providing tax clearance certificates and other documents.

The committee determines if the bids meet the minimum tender specifications. If, for example, the requirement was for a lorry and trailer, but a bidder was offering a bakkie, the committee removes that bid.

If the tender is very technical in nature, a separate technical committee will sit before the bid evaluation committee.

The final bids are then sent to a bid adjudication committee. It does not necessarily have to choose the cheapest bid, but the most appropriate one that will offer the most value.

Both committees include a variety of officials and some outsiders. They are not full-time committees, but meet depending on need.

The names of those who are awarded the tender are published in the Tender Bulletin, but not the amount involved.

Then begins the process of supplying the tendered goods and making payment to the winning bidder, depending on the terms of the contract stipulated in the tender.

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