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TendaSwift Arrives in Gauteng as a New Digital Era for Fair and Transparent Tendering
A new chapter for procurement transparency in SA’s economic heartland
Anyone who has ever tried to follow a government tender process in South Africa will tell you the same thing. Paper trails get lost, delays pile up, and the process can feel like a maze that only a select few know how to navigate. In Gauteng, the country’s busiest province and the home of massive infrastructure projects, these inefficiencies have shaped public frustrations for years.
That is why the provincial government’s move to launch TendaSwift has sparked real interest this week. Announced by Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile during the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, the new digital tender procurement system is being framed as more than a tech tool. It is being positioned as a reset to how government does business.
Maile described TendaSwift as a comprehensive, modern e-procurement platform built to replace the long-standing paper-based tender system. The platform is hosted on the official e-tender website of the Gauteng Provincial Treasury, developed in partnership with the Gautrain Management Agency, and is now entering its pilot phase.
A shift from paper to full digital accountability
For decades, manual submissions made tendering slow and vulnerable to malpractice. Files could disappear. Oversight could be inconsistent. Opportunities could feel out of reach for smaller suppliers who lacked connections or access.
TendaSwift attempts to correct this. The system digitises every stage of the procurement journey. This includes tender creation, advertising, bid submission, evaluation, adjudication, probity audits, and contracting. The aim is to ensure that every step is transparent, traceable, and visible to oversight structures.
Two tenders are already part of the pilot rollout. One from the Provincial Treasury has been advertised through the system, and another from the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency will go live on the platform in early December. To Maile, this signals a real demonstration of political will and a commitment to open competition.
What stands out most in the announcement is that the goal is not just efficiency. The province is framing the digital transition as a fairness intervention. With TendaSwift, a supplier in Hammanskraal or Kagiso has the same access as one in Sandton. Geography and networks no longer determine opportunity.
What the business community is saying
While official reactions are still emerging, local suppliers on social media have cautiously welcomed the move. Many have said digitisation has been overdue. Others pointed out that success will depend on consistent implementation across departments, not just in the pilot phase. Still, the overall sentiment is hopeful, especially among small businesses that often feel locked out of provincial procurement cycles.
The system also builds on Gauteng’s earlier Open Tender Process, introduced in 2014. That initiative was widely regarded as a pioneering attempt to bring transparency to public procurement. TendaSwift now pushes that approach into the digital era.
Automation that reaches beyond tenders
The province is not stopping with TendaSwift. Maile confirmed that Gauteng is also automating two major internal government processes. The Request for Quotation workflow and the RLS01 process are being digitised in partnership with National Treasury and the Department of e-Government. These systems are currently being piloted in departments that include Provincial Treasury, Community Safety, the Office of the Premier and Roads and Transport.
Early observations show faster processing times, better compliance with national procurement rules, improved audit trails, and cleaner data integrity. In a province that manages billions in contracts each year, stronger internal systems directly influence transparency and turnaround times.
Gauteng has also introduced a Market Research Price Data Solution to guard against overpricing. This tool covers more than half of all catalogue items currently used across departments and gives officials real-time pricing information. The point is to prevent inflated quotations and to protect the public purse so that more funds reach essential services.
A closer look at the numbers
These digital reforms build on another modernisation introduced earlier this year. Gauteng’s Invoice Management System, launched in April, has already processed 165 thousand invoices from more than eight thousand suppliers. Those invoices amount to more than R35 billion, and 83 percent of them were paid within thirty days.
This is significant for small and medium-sized businesses. Cash flow delays can cripple small suppliers. Faster invoicing and clearer tracking give them a fighting chance in the provincial economy.
The province’s P Card platform is also supporting small enterprises for transactions under R30 thousand. More than five hundred merchants have benefited so far, with nearly R3 million in monthly transactions flowing through the system. For many townships and emerging businesses, this steady support has helped keep operations stable.
Why TendaSwift matters for the public
In a province where corruption scandals have repeatedly shaken public trust, TendaSwift lands at an important moment. Residents want accountability. Businesses want a fair shot. Officials want fewer administrative bottlenecks.
The new platform is being positioned as a long-term solution that can scale across the government ecosystem. Whether it delivers on its promises will depend on rollout, monitoring, and political commitment. For now, it marks a significant turning point for a province attempting to rebuild trust through technology.
Gauteng’s message is clear. Digital governance is not a future goal. It is happening now, and the pressure is on to prove that transparency, fairness and efficiency can coexist in the country’s economic hub.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: SABC News
