Top ICT tenders: Electricity metering in the spotlight

The South African National Energy Development Institute and Eskom seek tech solutions to improve financial recovery.

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It’s a particularly busy week for public sector procurement officers, with almost 850 notices posted on National Treasury’s eTenders Portal.

The ICT industry benefits from this rush, with the State IT Agency (SITA) standing out with five new tenders advertised. However, it is the energy sector that takes the headline with requests that aim to improve financial recovery.

The South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) is first up with an invitation for service providers to submit proposals for the design, development and full ownership transfer of a comprehensive municipal metering communication and data management system.

According to its documentation, the system will comprise of two core components: a head-end system (HES) for secure and reliable collection of meter data, and a meter data management system (MDMS) for long-term data storage, validation, processing, reporting and seamless integration with municipal financial systems.

The objective is the design, development and implementation of a fully-functional, compliant and scalable HES/MDMS system that enables secure two-way communication with all connected meter infrastructure; ensures full data ownership by the municipality; provides Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and ICT security-compliant storage and transmission of all meter data; supports seamless integration with financial and billing systems, and includes hardware and display infrastructure for monitoring and management.

The institute specifies that a pilot implementation will be conducted within the Drakenstein Local Municipality – one of five municipalities participating in Sanedi’s Innovative Technology Solutions Programme for the Energy Management subprogramme – leveraging existing and new smart electricity meters as part of the supporting infrastructure.

“The HES/MDMS platform must operate continuously for a minimum of 12 billing cycles, during which it will be rigorously evaluated for accuracy and reliability of data collection and process, compliance with POPIA, adherence to ICT security standards, and full integration with municipal financial and billing systems,” Sanedi reveals.

Upon successful completion of the pilot, the municipality must receive full ownership of the platform, including all source code and associated intellectual property; comprehensive training for municipal personnel; detailed documentation covering system architecture, operations and maintenance; and a formal operational handover to ensure long-term sustainability and self-sufficiency.

No reference is made to rolling out to additional municipalities, post the pilot implementation.

Eskom follows with a call for the installation of smart meters, data concentrators and bulk load-limiting devices for the various zones within the Eastern Cape operating unit on an as-and-when-required basis.

The scope of work includes auditing and testing of prepaid, conventional and large power user meters as well as moves, change outs, upgrades and new installations.

The advert was published the day after National Treasury announced in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement that municipal debt to Eskom had grown to R94 billion at the end of March, up from R55 billion.

“While 24 municipalities have qualified for the first one-third write-off after 12 consecutive months of payments and 21 have generally maintained payments, as of 7 May 2025, 47 municipalities remain in default,” Treasury revealed.

“This is the combined result of weak collections, excessive electricity and water losses due primarily to a lack of maintenance and inadequate credit control. Measures are being taken to assist municipalities in raising revenue, including expanding smart prepaid metering.”

As an interim measure, these municipalities will now transition, where appropriate, to distribution agency agreements.

“Under these agreements, Eskom will operate municipal electricity services for a defined period, support cost-reflective tariff setting and loss reduction, and assist with collections,” the department explained.

Other tenders that make this week’s top 10:

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) wishes to appoint a professional service provider for network refresh services at its head office with support and maintenance. This location hosts the primary data centres that support the department’s core ICT systems and digital services. These data centres are critical to the functioning of the department, enabling internal operations, interdepartmental communication, environmental data processing and public service delivery, it says. However, the current network infrastructure was deployed over 15 years ago and since then the department’s digital footprint has expanded significantly.

• The DFFE is also looking for a professional service provider for the renewal of Check Point Infinity services. The department currently uses Check Point Infinity architecture to safeguard its network, endpoint and cloud environments. Its objective is to maintain comprehensive coverage and ensure all existing gateways continue to receive full threat prevention capabilities, software updates and technical support.

• SITA is requesting bids for the procurement of an audit management system for KwaZulu-Natal’s Provincial Treasury. This tool is required by the Provincial Internal Audit Services to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and consistency of audits across all KwaZulu-Natal provincial departments.

• KZN’s Provincial Internal Audit Services also requires a risk management information system. The tool should improve the visibility, efficiency and consistency of risk management work across the province’s departments and municipalities. The agency explains the aim is to strengthen the governance, risk and compliance environment by integrating all three areas to equip the KwaZulu-Natal provincial administration with the necessary solutions to manage risks with efficacy.

• A service provider is sought for the supply, installation and configuration of switches, wireless access points and cabling for the Limpopo Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure. This will include 35 PoE+ switches; 65 wireless access points with centralised management; licensing, three-year warranty and support; and a cabling solution that works for the specified switches.

• Moving to the Western Cape, SITA is advertising for the supply and delivery of Cisco LAN infrastructure equipment with Cisco for the provincial Department of Health and Wellness acute psychiatric units and emergency centres. The agency reveals the department must complete capital projects by building new acute psychiatric units, emergency centres and other buildings as the needs increase in the province due to increased population. These buildings need to be connected to the wide area network to provide services. The province has undergone a digital transformation, and many services can only be rendered digitally, it adds.

• Finally, a SITA client has submitted a tasking for the supply and implementation of cyber security solution/s for protection against ransomware. The agency says the ideal solution should enable robust threat prevention, detection and response capabilities, while offering centralised management, scalability and seamless integration with existing systems. The solution must also have on-premises air-gapped XDR and needs to mitigate the risks associated with the protection and security of sensitive data on endpoint devices.

• Limpopo’s Provincial Treasury is inviting bids for the supply, installation and configuration of three super servers and one storage component. The successful service provider will be expected to provide a working solution, while the province will be responsible for providing the Microsoft licences. Only service providers registered and accredited in SITA’s RFB 2003/2014 transversal contract in the region of Limpopo under servers and storage will be considered.

• Mpumalanga’s Provincial Treasury closes the issue with its wish to appoint a service provider for the implementation and maintenance of financial statements automation in line with the modified cash standard to Mpumalanga provincial departments. The main objective of the system is to serve as a replacement for the current automation and maintain the status quo of automation of related transactions and related activities within the provincial government. The solution must be able to be implemented in a short space of time to allow the smooth transition and migration from the current to new system without any period of disruption in service on the system.