Question NW273 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training
15 March 2018 - NW273
Bucwa, Ms H to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training
(1)With reference to her reply to question 3221 on 30 November 2017, on what basis was her department’s tender for the organising of events on 20 May 2016 deemed urgent, when it was indicated in the specified reply that the need for the service was identified some six months earlier; (2) what (a) are the details of the bidders that responded to the specified tender, (b) amount did each bidder tender for, (c) criteria were used to award the tender and (d) weighting was applied to each of the criterion for each bidder; (3) (a) what are the details of Batsumi Travel (Pty) Ltd’s experience in organising and managing events and (b) on what basis was the specified tender awarded to the specified company; (4) what are the full details in terms of dates, venues, purposes, sizes and final costs of each event organised by the company for her department to date
Reply:
1. The tender for organising of events was deemed urgent based on the following:
- The Department of Higher Education and Training at the time had cancelled a bid to make provision in the revised terms of reference for emerging business to contend.
- In the interim, the Department participated in a contract for events management services of the Department of Basic Education that was nearing its expiry date at the end of December 2015.
- Thereto, numerous request for events and related services were received and due to the monetary threshold, deviation approval of either the accounting officer or National Treasury was necessary. This was undesirable as it would lead to an increase in administrative duties and delays in the procuring of services. The hosting of the then Mandela Day Career Festival was one such event, which required specialised labour and skills not available within the Department.
2. (a) The following ten bidders responded to the tender:
|
No. |
Bidder |
B-BBEE Level |
|
1. |
Lets Settle Our Dues Corporation (Pty) Ltd |
1 |
|
2. |
Crocia Events (Pty) Ltd |
1 |
|
3. |
Mahuma Group (Pty) Ltd |
1 |
|
4. |
Moshate Media cc |
1 |
|
5. |
Batsumi Travel (Pty) Ltd |
1 |
|
6. |
Indaba Global Travel |
2 |
|
7. |
Zakheni Events Management T/A Trade Conference International |
2 |
|
8. |
Travel With Flair (Pty) Ltd |
2 |
|
9. |
Coordinating Concepts cc |
1 |
|
10. |
Tourvest Destination Management, a Division of Tourvest Holding T/A Tourvest IME |
3 |
|
No. |
Bidder |
% Management Fee |
|||
|
R10 000.00 |
R10,000.01 -R100 000.00 |
R100,000.01 -R500 000 |
R500 000.01 + |
||
|
1. |
Let’s Settle Our Dues Corporation (Pty) Ltd |
10% |
20% |
20% |
20% |
|
2. |
Croacia Events (Pty) Ltd |
20% |
15% |
12% |
10% |
|
3. |
Mahuma Group (Pty) Ltd |
15% |
15% |
15% |
15% |
|
4. |
Moshate Media cc |
20% |
18% |
15% |
13% |
|
5. |
Batsumi Travel (Pty) Ltd |
8% |
8% |
8% |
8% |
|
6. |
Indaba Global Travel |
5% |
5% |
5% |
5% |
|
7. |
Zakheni Events Management T/A Trade Conference International |
25% |
25% |
20% |
15% |
|
8. |
Travel With Flair (Pty) Ltd |
15% |
10% |
9% |
8% |
|
9. |
Coordinating Concepts cc |
17.5% |
15% |
12.5% |
10% |
|
10. |
Tourvest Destination Management, a Division of Tourvest Holding T/A Tourvest IME |
5% |
7% |
10% |
13% |
(b) The tender amount was based on a management fee.
(c) – (d) The functional criteria and weightings are listed below:
|
No. |
Functional Criteria |
Weight |
|
1. |
References/Past experience List and size of current and past clients in this area |
20 |
|
8 - 10 clients past and current references (above R1 million) - 20 points |
||
|
5 - 7 clients past and current references (R501 000 - R1 million) - 10 points |
||
|
3 - 4 clients past and current references (R100 000 - R500 000) - 5 points |
||
|
2. |
Relevant Experience in the industry |
20 |
|
8 - 10 years and above - 20 points |
||
|
5 - 7 years - 10 points |
||
|
3 - 4 years - 5 points |
||
|
3. |
Company Profile |
20 |
|
4. |
Resource capacity |
20 |
|
List of all resources (hardware & software) available to the company - 10 points |
||
|
CV’s with qualifications of staff to manage the contract - 10 points |
||
|
5. |
Administration plan |
20 |
|
Methodology, i.e. how the company will deal with reservations, invoicing, queries, and complaints, etc. - 20 points |
||
|
Total Points |
100 |
3. (a) Batsumi Travel is a travel management company, which was established in 2010. The table below summarises their experience according to the proposal submitted:
|
Previous Clients |
Services Contracted |
Duration of Contract |
|
Woman Judges |
Conferences, Accommodation and Transport |
Annual Project (3 Years) |
|
Department of Health North West |
Cuba Medical Student Group |
Annual Projects (3 Years) |
|
Waterberg Municipality |
Flight, Accommodation, Car, Shuttle and Group bookings |
3 Years |
|
South Africa Weather Services |
Group Travel, Conference, Accommodation, Transport, Flights and Car rentals |
3 Years |
|
Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa |
Flight, Accommodation, Car, Shuttle and Group bookings |
|
(b) The bid was evaluated in three phases:
- Administrative compliance - provision of minimum required documents;
- Functionality scoring – according to the criteria at highlighted above; and
- Points for price and Broad Based Black-Economic Empowerment.
Batsumi (Pty) Ltd qualified for both phases 1 and 2 and scored the highest points for the lowest management fee (8%) over the term of the contract in phase 3.
4. The details of the schedule for bookings made with Batsumi Travel as at 9 February 2018 are provided in the attached Annexure.