The Tender: Declaration of Interest
8 June 2015
One of the most important parts of all tender documents in South Africa`s public procurement environment is the Declaration of Interest-Form. This form primarily declares whether any relationship exists between the supplier and any person employed by the state, particularly officials who are involved in the tendering process.
On a municipal level, no employee of the state is allowed to tender for contracts whether that person is an elected official or a paid employee. This ruling is also applicable to persons who are either elected as an official or a paid employee in national and provincial governments, parastatals, state agencies and boards, etc.
The reasoning behind this regulation is to ensure that there is no room left for favouritism and the duty is on the bidder to declare whether a conflict of interest exists in relation to the process of evaluating/adjudicating of tenders. This must be done under oath.
While people, who have a relationship with somebody in the employ of the state, are not barred from submitting tenders, a failure to complete the Declaration of Interest Form will invalidate your Bid.
Did you know: That while legislation bars any employee of state to tender for contracts on a municipal level, state employees are not barred from submitting tenders for other levels of state e.g. national and provincial governments, parastatals, state agencies and boards, etc.
