Security Tenders In South Africa: How To Find, Qualify, And Win Contracts

If you’re eyeing security tenders in South Africa, you’re in a high-demand, high-compliance space where the right moves can lock in stable contracts for years. Crime pressure, infrastructure projects, retail expansion, and events mean constant demand for guarding, CCTV, control-room monitoring, and hybrid tech-guarding solutions. But competition is fierce, and procurement teams are getting smarter about value, compliance, and risk.

This guide unpacks the full playbook: where to find verified opportunities, how to pass compliance hurdles, how to price correctly without undercutting yourself, and how to write a proposal that actually scores. You’ll see practical examples, common pitfalls, and a step-by-step approach tailored for South African SMEs and suppliers. Let’s turn “we could” into “we won.”

Understanding The Security Tender Landscape

Security tenders in South Africa cut across government (national, provincial, municipal, SOCs) and the private sector (retail, logistics, construction, healthcare, events). Each buyer type has its own procurement rhythm, compliance expectations, and scoring methods.

Here’s what you’re competing in:

• Demand drivers: Ongoing load-shedding risks, copper theft, site vandalism, retail shrinkage, and major events keep guarding and surveillance in demand. Construction sites and municipal facilities are major spenders.
• Service shifts: Buyers are moving to integrated security, less headcount-heavy, more tech-enabled. Expect RFPs for CCTV with analytics, remote off-site monitoring, LPR cameras, access control, body-worn cams, and patrol verification systems.
• Outcome focus: Instead of “x guards, y hours,” many buyers want outcomes, reduced incidents, faster response times, proof-of-presence data, and compliance with POPIA for video and data handling.
• Cost realism: Underpricing gets you disqualified or burned later. Public sector evaluators have a sharp eye for unsustainable rates, especially in guarding where minimum wages and sectoral agreements are mandatory.

How bids are usually scored:

• Functionality (technical) threshold: You must meet a minimum score (often 70%) before price/preference points count. This checks your experience, methodology, staffing, and equipment.
• Price and preference: Tenders often apply the 80/20 or 90/10 system. Price competes with preference points (B-BBEE). Level 1–4 contributors typically gain an edge, but functionality wins you the right to be scored in the first place.
• Compliance gatekeepers: CSD registration, tax status, PSIRA registration for the company and relevant grades for supervisors/guards, COIDA, UIF, and proof of wages/benefits compliance (e.g., NBCPSS/PSSPF where applicable).

Not all security is guarding. Distinguish your lanes:

• Guarding and armed response: Heavily regulated, labor-driven, strict wage rules, shift planning, and relief costs.
• Electronic security: CCTV, alarms, access control, VMS, analytics, and control-room monitoring. Strong on SLAs, uptime, and warranties.
• Event and crowd control: Short bursts, detailed risk plans, and public liability insurance are crucial.
• Specialist segments: Cash-in-transit, mining sites, ports/logistics, and healthcare security often need specialized accreditation and SOPs.

Key takeaway: Winning security tenders in South Africa means proving you’re compliant, outcome-focused, and financially realistic, while showcasing tech-enabled efficiency and credible incident reduction.

Compliance And Registration Checklist

Before you price or propose, lock down your compliance. Many bids die at the gate because a single document is missing or expired.

Use this checklist:

• CSD registration: Your Central Supplier Database record must be active and accurate. Print the latest report and include it if requested.
• Tax compliance: Make sure your SARS tax status is in good standing. Include your tax PIN for verification.
• PSIRA registration: Company registration plus grades for key personnel (e.g., Grade A for managers, Grade B for supervisors, Grade C for guards, depending on the scope). Keep proof ready.
• Wage and benefits compliance: Adhere to the Private Security Sector agreements and minimum wages, including provident fund contributions (PSSPF) and any NBCPSS requirements where applicable. Buyers increasingly request recent payroll proofs and contribution schedules.
• COIDA and UIF: Valid COIDA letter of good standing and UIF compliance for staff. Non-negotiable for guarding contracts.
• B-BBEE certificate or affidavit: Ensure it matches your turnover category (EME/QSE) and is current. This affects preference points and sometimes pre-qualification.
• Insurances: Public liability (often R5m–R20m+ depending on risk), fidelity guarantee for guarding/cash handling roles, and professional indemnity for consulting/technology design where needed.
• Health & safety: Compliant H&S plan, risk assessments, and incident reporting procedures, especially for construction and municipal sites.
• POPIA and data handling: For CCTV/ANPR/biometric systems, state how you store, access, and purge footage/data. Mention encryption, retention periods, and access controls.
• Firearms and special permits: If armed services are requested, ensure firearm licenses, competency certificates, and safekeeping compliance.

Smart prep moves:

• Build a “bid-ready pack” folder with current PDFs: CSD report, tax PIN letter, PSIRA, COIDA, proof of PSSPF, B-BBEE, insurance certificates, company profile, organogram, and CVs/grades of key staff.
• Track expiry dates: A simple spreadsheet with reminders saves last-minute panic.
• Pre-qualify suppliers: Line up OEM or distributor letters for CCTV/tech brands you’ll quote so you can prove warranty support and authorized installation.

Where To Find Security Tenders And Set Up Alerts

You want a steady pipeline, not sporadic hunting. Combine official portals with curated platforms to avoid missing high-value opportunities.

Core sources:

• eTender SA: A dedicated platform that curates and verifies security tenders across government and private sectors. You can filter by province, category (guarding, CCTV, monitoring, alarms, fencing), and value, then set alerts so leads come to you.
• National Treasury eTender Portal: The official public sector portal. Good coverage, but browsing can be time-consuming. Use it to cross-check.
• Provincial and municipal portals: Gauteng, Western Cape, KZN, and metro municipality websites publish RFQs and RFPs, many short-turnaround.
• State-Owned Companies: Transnet, Eskom, PRASA, ACSA, Telkom publish directly on their own portals. Some use platforms like SAP Ariba.
• Private sector procurement hubs: Retail groups, logistics parks, hospitals, and universities often issue RFPs via mailing lists or dedicated portals. Register as a vendor where your ideal clients buy.

Alert strategy that actually works:

• On eTender SA, set saved searches for: “security,” “guarding,” “CCTV,” “monitoring,” “access control,” “fencing,” and your provinces. Add “framework” and “panel” to catch multi-year panels.
• Layer Google Alerts for phrases like “security services tender South Africa” and major buyer names. While noisy, it surfaces press releases and addenda news.
• Maintain a weekly “bid board” meeting, even if it’s just you, where you assess fit, decide Go/No-Go, and assign actions.

Go/No-Go filters (use them ruthlessly):

• Do you meet every mandatory compliance item?
• Do you have at least 3 recent, relevant references?
• Can you staff and mobilize on the start date, including relief and supervision?
• Is the location economical for supervision and logistics?
• Is pricing likely sustainable at required wage levels and inflation risk?

This keeps you from chasing everything and burning capacity.

Reading The Bid Pack And Attending Briefings

Small details win or lose tenders. Read the bid pack twice: once for scope and once for compliance.

What to look for:

• Compulsory briefing/site meeting: If it’s compulsory, missing it makes your bid non-responsive. Note venue, time, and what to bring (ID, business card, PPE).
• Returnable schedules: SBD forms, declarations of interest, CSD reports, PSIRA proof, wage compliance, OEM letters, and technical data sheets.
• Functionality criteria: Extract every criterion and build your proposal outline to mirror it. If they mention “incident reduction methodology,” include a clear, quantified plan.
• SLA and KPIs: Response times, patrol frequency, uptime metrics for CCTV, false alarm thresholds, reporting formats, and penalties.
• Contract term and extension options: Multi-year panels change your pricing (you may include tech refresh, escalation clauses, etc.).
• Addenda: Always check for addenda near the closing date. They can change pricing structures or attendance requirements.

At the briefing:

• Arrive early, sign the register legibly (photo it if allowed), and ask targeted questions. Clarify guard grades, shift structures, handover procedures, and whether uniforms/PPE are buyer- or supplier-provided.
• Walk the site: Look for blind spots, lighting, power backup for cameras, control-room location, access points, and high-risk zones.
• Note special constraints: Union rules on site, induction requirements, or security clearances.

Write down assumptions. If the pack is silent on relief or overtime rules, ask. Your pricing and staffing plan depend on it.

Submission And Timelines Strategy

• Backward-plan from the closing time: Set internal deadlines for pricing, technical write-up, reviews, and printing/packaging (if hard copy). Aim to finish 24–48 hours early.
• Two-envelope rule: If required, separate technical and financial proposals. Don’t put price in the technical envelope, ever.
• Label exactly as requested: Tender number, description, and your details on the envelope/box and USB if applicable.
• Version control: Keep a single source of truth for attachments. Last-minute mix-ups cause missing pages.
• Delivery reality: Traffic and load-shedding can kill on-time submission. Hand-deliver early or use a trusted courier with buffer time.
• Proof of submission: Get a stamped receipt or timestamped proof. For online systems, screenshot the final confirmation.
• Post-submission monitoring: Watch for addenda, clarifications, and public opening minutes, note competitor names and pricing bands to benchmark later.

Pricing Security Services Correctly

Your price must be compliant, sustainable, and defensible. Procurement teams know the sector’s wage baselines and typical cost structures.

Start with the non-negotiables:

• Minimum wages and benefits: Use the latest Private Security Sector wage tables and provident fund rules (PSSPF/NBCPSS as applicable). Build in allowances (night shift, Sunday/public holiday rates), leave pay, and relief.
• Relief and supervision: For 24/7 posts, relief is not optional. Supervision time, transport, and communication must be costed.
• PPE, uniforms, training, and PSIRA fees: Annualize and allocate per guard per month.
• Insurance and compliance: Public liability, fidelity cover (if required), control-room certification costs.
• Technology: Radios, patrol verification devices, body cams, CCTV equipment, VMS licenses, SIM/data, maintenance, and SLA response capacity.
• Overheads and profit: Office rent, HR, finance, bid costs, bad debt risk, and a reasonable margin to stay solvent.

Pricing frameworks that help:

• Build bottom-up: Cost a single post per month by shift pattern (e.g., 2×12-hour shifts, 7 days), then scale to the number of posts and months.
• Separate direct labor vs. indirect costs: Show clarity in your internal model (you can summarize in the financial schedule as required).
• Escalation clauses: Where allowed, reference CPI or specified wage adjustments. If the RFP is silent, include assumptions in your technical proposal.
• Value options: Offer a base compliant solution and an optional tech-enhanced variant (remote monitoring or analytics) that reduces incidents and total cost of ownership.

Guarding vs. technology bids:

• Guarding is wage-heavy: efficiency comes from better scheduling, supervision routes, and proof-of-presence systems that reduce no-shows and overtime leakage.
• Tech-heavy bids hinge on correct bill of quantities, realistic installation times, and a maintenance plan that keeps uptime high. Under-costing maintenance kills margins.

Finally, sanity-check your price against market bands for similar scopes. If you’re far below, you probably missed a cost. If you’re far above, you may be over-engineering the solution, or you’ve found a scope risk others will ignore (note it in your methodology).

Practical Costing Example: 24/7 Guarding For A Municipal Building

Scenario: One access-control point, 24/7 coverage, Grade C guards, with day and night shifts, plus supervision. You’re responsible for uniforms, radios, and patrol verification.

Step-by-step approach:

1. Determine shift structure and relief

• 24/7 means 2×12-hour shifts daily. You typically need 4.3 FTE per post per month to cover leave and off-days.
• Add supervisor coverage (e.g., 1 supervisor for every 10 guards, or a fixed number of hours per week for this site).

1. Labor cost build-up (per guard per month)

• Base wage at the current minimum for Grade C (check latest official rates for your region).
• Add: leave pay accrual, provident fund, overtime premiums where applicable, night/Sunday/holiday allowances based on roster, and statutory contributions.

1. Non-labor per guard per month

• Uniforms and PPE (annual cost/12).
• Communications (radio/SIM), patrol device licensing.
• Training refreshers and PSIRA renewals (annualized).

1. Site-level costs

• Supervisor time and transport.
• Control-room response/monitoring (if included).
• Insurance allocation and risk allowance.

1. Overheads and margin

• Allocate reasonable overhead percentage.
• Add profit margin aligned with risk profile and cash-flow lags (public sector may pay 30 days after invoice, sometimes later, price that risk carefully).

1. VAT and escalation

• State VAT separately.
• Include an escalation assumption tied to wage adjustments/CPI if permitted.

Pro tip: Present a transparent summary in your pricing schedule (without exposing your full internal model). Buyers trust well-structured, compliant pricing and are wary of “too good to be true.”

Writing A Competitive Proposal

Your technical proposal needs to be easy to score. Mirror the functionality criteria and use their language.

Structure that works:

• Executive summary: In one page, restate the objectives (reduce incidents, ensure compliant guarding, protect assets, maintain CCTV uptime), summarize your solution, and quantify expected outcomes.
• Company credentials: PSIRA registration, years in operation, similar contracts (with contactable references), and relevant OEM partnerships. Include 3–5 short case studies with results (e.g., “reduced perimeter breaches by 42% within 90 days”).
• Methodology: Site risk assessment, post orders, patrol plans, incident response flow, escalation matrix, and handover procedures. For CCTV/tech, add network diagrams, device uptime strategy, and SLA response tiers.
• Staffing plan: Organogram with names, grades, and CV snapshots for key staff. Roster approach showing how you cover relief and peak periods.
• Quality and compliance: Training schedule, toolbox talks, supervision plan, PSIRA and wage compliance controls, POPIA policy for video/data, and H&S plan.
• Reporting and performance: Sample daily occurrence book (DOB) extract, incident report template, KPI dashboard (patrol hits, response times, uptime %), and monthly review process.
• Value adds: Tech integrations (LPR, analytics), community policing links, crime intel sharing, or energy-backup planning for control rooms during load-shedding.
• Local participation: Where relevant, show local hiring and supplier development. This often helps with preference or functionality points.

Writing tips to boost scores:

• Make it scannable: Use short paragraphs, bullets, and bold keywords aligned to criteria.
• Evidence, not hype: Screenshots of dashboards (sanitized), copies of OEM credentials, and signed reference letters.
• Answer the question asked: If they want a risk register, give a risk register, not a generic narrative.
• Consistency check: Names, dates, and figures must match across forms, the technical, and the pricing.

Finally, include a clear mobilization plan with timelines: recruitment, vetting, uniforming, site induction, and go-live. A crisp Gantt chart wins confidence.

Post-Award Delivery And Contract Management

Winning is the start: flawless delivery keeps the contract and wins renewals.

Mobilization basics:

• Onboarding: Vet all guards, confirm PSIRA grades, issue uniforms/PPE, and capture biometric access (if applicable).
• Site induction: Align on post orders, emergency procedures, visitor management, and incident reporting.
• Tech commissioning: Test cameras, analytics, recording, storage retention, and remote monitoring paths. Document baselines.

Operate with discipline:

• SLA tracking: Monitor response times, patrol proof, false alarms, CCTV uptime, and incident trends. Use dashboards and share monthly.
• Supervision and audits: Scheduled and surprise checks, body-worn cam audits (if used), and DOB spot checks.
• Overtime and leave control: Prevent cost creep that erodes margins.
• Invoicing and cash flow: Submit complete invoices with proof of service (timesheets, patrol logs, callouts). Track payments and escalate early to avoid cash crunch.

Continuous improvement:

• Quarterly reviews with the client: Present data-driven improvements and adjust post orders based on incident heat maps.
• Training refreshers: Short, targeted modules, conflict management, access control etiquette, CCTV incident tagging.
• Change control: Formalize any scope changes and variations. Don’t absorb unpaid extras, agree them in writing first.

Close-out with care:

• End-of-term handover packs: Asset lists, incident logs, and lessons learned. Good close-outs drive references and future panel wins.

Common Pitfalls And How To Avoid Them

• Missing a compulsory briefing: Mark these in your calendar and set double reminders. If you miss it, don’t submit.
• Underpricing guarding: If your model doesn’t include relief, allowances, and provident fund, you’ll bleed cash or default. Build from the wage table up.
• Weak references: Collect and maintain contactable references with dates, contract values, and outcomes. No references = low functionality scores.
• Ignoring technology lifecycle: For CCTV/access projects, budget for spares, firmware updates, and SLA response. Under-costed maintenance damages reputation.
• Poor document control: One missing SBD or an expired certificate makes you non-responsive. Use a checklist and a second-person review before sealing the envelopes.
• Vague methodology: Generic text gets low marks. Tailor post orders and risk mitigation to the actual site layout and crime profile.
• Cash-flow strain: Public buyers may pay in 30–60 days. Ensure working capital for salaries and equipment. Consider invoice discounting facilities if needed.
• POPIA missteps: Mishandling CCTV footage access or retention invites trouble. Document your data policy and enforce it.
• Safety oversights: Skipping site-specific H&S plans on construction-linked projects can halt work and trigger penalties.
• No escalation terms: In multi-year contracts, if you don’t state escalation assumptions, inflation and wage increases can wipe out margin.

Treat this list as your pre-flight check before every submission.

Conclusion

Security tenders in South Africa reward companies that are precise, compliant, and outcomes-focused. Your edge comes from three things: a verified pipeline of opportunities, a bid-ready compliance pack, and a solution that blends disciplined guarding with smart technology, priced realistically and explained clearly.

If you’re ready to find the right opportunities faster, visit eTender SA today. Set up alerts for guarding, CCTV, monitoring, and multi-year panels, and get verified tenders in your inbox, so you can focus on qualifying and winning the contracts that grow your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find verified security tenders in South Africa?

Use eTender SA for curated opportunities across guarding, CCTV, monitoring, and fencing, and set saved alerts by province and category. Cross-check on the National Treasury eTender Portal, plus major SOC portals like Transnet and Eskom. Register with private procurement hubs and hold a weekly bid-board to screen fit.

What documents are required to bid for security tenders in South Africa?

Common gatekeepers include active CSD registration, SARS tax PIN, PSIRA registration (company and relevant grades), COIDA letter, UIF compliance, wage and provident fund proof (PSSPF/NBCPSS), B‑BBEE certificate/affidavit, insurances (public liability, fidelity), H&S plan, and POPIA/data-handling policies for CCTV/ANPR work.

How are security tenders in South Africa typically scored?

Most use a functionality threshold (often 70%) before price/preference points apply. After passing functionality, the 80/20 or 90/10 price–B‑BBEE system is used. Strong, evidence-backed methodology, relevant references, staffing plans, and tech-enabled outcomes get you through functionality; compliant pricing then competes on value.

What’s the best way to price guarding and CCTV for security tenders in South Africa?

Build bottom‑up from the latest sector wage tables, include relief, allowances, supervision, uniforms/PPE, PSIRA fees, insurance, and tech (radios, patrol verification, data). Separate direct labor and indirects, add realistic margin, and state escalation assumptions. Offer a compliant base and an optional tech-enhanced variant that reduces incidents.

Can foreign-owned companies bid on security tenders in South Africa?

Yes—if they operate through a South African‑registered entity that meets all requirements: PSIRA company registration, active CSD profile, valid SARS tax status, COIDA/UIF, and applicable insurances. B‑BBEE status affects preference points. Some projects may require local footprint, vetted staff, and security clearances per site rules.

What is PSIRA, and which grades do I need for a guarding tender?

PSIRA regulates the private security industry. Buyers typically require Grade A for managers, Grade B for supervisors, and Grade C for guards, aligned to scope and risk. Keep proof of company registration and individual grades ready, plus recent payroll and provident fund compliance to pass functionality and compliance checks.