Supplier criteria

Eskom's black economic empowerment programme

If you are interested in selling goods, works or services to Eskom, the following information will interest you. It sets out what you need to do, and refers you to Eskom's policies and procedures which tell you what Eskom does. Eskom's Purchasing Pact with Suppliers gives you a lot more information about how Eskom deals with suppliers.     

Basic purchasing policy followed by Eskom

As an organ of State, Eskom subscribes to the principles of openness, integrity and accountability, and attempts to implement the best procurement practices found in the developed world, adapted to South African circumstances. Eskom tries to make its business available to as many potential suppliers as possible.

 In buying goods, works or services Eskom selects the supplier from which it will buy based on quality (does your offering conform to Eskom's requirement?), price (total cost of ownership) and availability (can you deliver when Eskom requires?). At times other considerations are also taken into consideration. One example is support for Black economic empowerment. All the information you need to give Eskom a responsive tender will be spelled out in the enquiry documents you receive, or can be obtained from the buyer who calls you.

Ethics for Eskom's buyers and Eskom's suppliers

Eskom expects its employees, and especially its buyers, to behave ethically. In order to assist its employees, Eskom has published a document Business Conduct Policy and Guidelines which sets out to guide Eskom employees through the ethical pitfalls in the workplace. Eskom also has an Code of Conduct for Suppliers, with which you should be familiar before you deal with Eskom.

Eskom's purchasing offices are decentralised - you need to approach more than one

Eskom's buying is not done by one department in one place. In fact Eskom has a number of buying offices in a number of main centres. Eskom's computer systems registering suppliers are also decentralised and each Eskom Group has its own system. You need to register as a supplier with each Eskom Group to whom you wish to sell. 

How does Eskom support Black and Black Empowering businesses?

Eskom has a policy to support businesses that contribute to Black economic empowerment. This is done by

• setting aside some contracts for development of Black suppliers
• setting aside a portion of other contracts for Black suppliers, and allowing them to match the prices of traditional suppliers for that set-aside portion
• prescribing a percentage of work to be subcontracted to Black suppliers. The policy is set out in two policy documents (Application of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice within Eskom  and  Implementation of Eskom's Black Economic Empowerment Strategy), which you may read for further information on Eskom's Black Supplier Development and Support Programme.

How to register as a supplier to Eskom

In order to register as a supplier to Eskom, you need to fill in and forward the Supplier Application form. Remember that you need to do this for every Group to which you wish to sell. Please fill in all the information, since this will help us to assess your business as a potential supplier. Where this is necessary due to statutory, safety, health or environmental reasons, Eskom will also qualify your business. This means that Eskom will see whether your business conforms to certain preset standards which are required in order to supply certain items or services.

Eskom's Tender Bulletin

Eskom advertises business opportunities on its tender bulletin. At present this does not provide for electronic tendering. If you are interested in selling to Eskom, you need to check the tender bulletin daily for those categories of goods, works or services that you can supply. Remember that Eskom is very strict about closing dates.

How to submit tenders to Eskom

1. Submit your tenders to Eskom in the format asked for by the enquiry. 
2. Formal tenders must be put into the prescribed tender box, or faxed to the prescribed number, before the closing time on the closing date. Late tenders will not be accepted.
3. The tender must conform to all the requirements set out in Eskom's standard conditions of tendering and the covering letter and other documentation provided.

What Happens to Your Tender After Submission?

1. The tenders are opened and read out. This includes prices, unless it is practically impossible to read them. The documents are stamped and initialed by the Eskom officials present.
2. The tenders are verified to check responsiveness. If your tender is not responsive Eskom will inform you that it will not be considered for evaluation.
3. The tenders are evaluated. This means that they are brought to a common base and are compared to establish which one gives best value for money.
4. The buyer reports to an approval authority, usually a tender/procurement committee, on the evaluation of all the tenders, with a recommendation to place the order or contract with one or more of the tenderers.
5. The approval authority decides with whom the order or contract will be placed.
6. The buyer places the order or contract, and informs the tenderers whether they were successful. As a rule every tenderer is informed in the case of building and civil works and service/consulting contracts. 
7. Any tenderer may call to establish whether their tender was successful, and if not, why not.

The Forms of Contract Eskom Uses

Where the purchase is for low value and low risk to Eskom is involved, Eskom uses the Eskom Standard Conditions of Purchase. In other case Eskom uses the NEC form of contract, which is an international standard format comprising contracts for large or small engineering and construction works, professional and general services, and plant and equipment. In some cases Eskom has drafted standard contracts in the same format and with the same philosophy. Eskom does not accept sellers' conditions of sale or contract, but expects sellers to accept Eskom's standard forms of contract. How does Eskom measure supplier performance?

From time to time Eskom has performance appraisal meetings with its major suppliers. At these meetings user perceptions and problems are discussed between Eskom and the supplier's management team. This is intended to improve cooperation. If a supplier is consistently late in delivering, provides a product that does not conform to requirements, or does not stick with the pricing arrangements, this will be dealt with by the local procurement manager and staff. The first intent will be to ensure that Eskom gets value for money, and if this is not successful a supplier may be delisted. If a supplier is involved in any wrongdoing affecting Eskom, there is a policy by which Eskom can delist such a supplier. In some cases Eskom will also refuse to do business with any business in which the owners, managers or directors of the delisted business are involved.

Where can I get more information about how to sell to Eskom?

 Call any buying office in Eskom. (Refer Contacts page)