The Public Procurement Process in South Africa and the Law of Contract (TITEL MOET NOG DIEN)

Abstract

In South Africa the government relies greatly on the tender process as regulated by various legislation and legal principles in order to obtain contracts for the procurement of goods and services needed to maintain, upgrade and advance the public assets. Since the Constitution1 came effect in 1997, various rules and principles regarding the public procurement process in South Africa was changed and expanded to recover and improve the new democratic South Africa. Chapter 1 consists of the introduction, objectives and the scope of this study. In chapter 2, I will discuss the public sector tender process, what it consists of and the applicable legislation and legal opinions in regards to the public procurement process. Chapter 3 will be a discussion about the drafting of the various tender documentation with a detailed focus on the drafting of an invitation to tender, the submitted tender, the awarding letter of a tender and the final contract. In chapter 4, I will discuss how the interpretation of contracts influences the public procurement process. I will discuss the applicable presumptions in detail and at the hand of recent case law. Chapter 5 of this study will consist of a conclusion and I will attempt to answer the research statement and questions above.