Tender opportunities discussed with SMMEs
MBOMBELA - Sanral and VEA Road Maintenance and Civils hosted information sharing sessions to prepare SMMEs for upcoming tender opportunities.
The first session was held in Bushbuckridge on Wednesday August 31 and in Mbombela and Barberton on Thursday September 1.
These sessions addressed the need to empower local communities and small businesses within local municipalities with jobs, training and skills for routine road maintenance subcontracting tender opportunities in the local municipality.
They informed local communities, business forums and targeted small, medium and micro enterprises about Sanral.
These opportunities are for the R38, section 5; the R37, section 4; the R40, sections 2, 4 and 5; and the N4, section 7.
Additionally they aimed to unpack information regarding the contract participation goals, the number of subcontractors needed and the dates on which tenders will be advertised.
Tshimangadzo Masindi, a project manager of Sanral Northern Region, said the agency owns a lot of national roads across the country, including in Mpumalanga. All these routes need to be maintained in a 36-month cycle.
“Every 36 months we appoint a new service provider to carry over the maintenance, so within this cycle the main contractor started around February last year. Within our policy as Sanral for our routine maintenance projects, whoever wins the tender needs to subcontract 50% to the local community from the tender amount they have won.”
Masindi said before they advertise for tendering processes, they visit the affected municipalities and inform the public about the opportunities they have.
She said they advertise in local newspapers, within the municipalities, PLC structures and through WhatsApp.