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3 DEALERSHIPS FOR E20M CARS TENDER

13/08/2018 08:44:00 BY KWANELE DHLADHLA

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MBABANE – Three companies are on the run to be granted the over E20 million government tender for procurement of at least 54 new vehicles.

During the official opening of Tender No 72 of 2018/19 for the supply and delivery of these vehicles issued by the Central Transport Administration (CTA) under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport only Mbabane Motors, Carson Auto and Motruck submitted bids. The reading of bids to the public and company representatives was conducted by Bheki Sithole at the Government Treasury Department starting from 9:30 am and lasted for about 30 minutes. Out of the three companies yet to undergo technical evaluation, the lowest bid was submitted by Carson Auto whose bid stood at E17.2 million while the highest bid read out was from Mbabane Motors at E27.6 million.

Motruck submitted two bid options of E21.5 million and E25.2 million.
Documents submitted by companies which accompanied bids for the multimillion tender which were also read out to attendees included a Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) tax clearance certificate, trading licence, Form C & J, labour compliance certificate, Swaziland National Provident Fund SNPF compliance certificate, manufacturers authorisation, E50 000 cheque or bond and Value Added Tax (VAT) registration certificate among others.

It should be mentioned that Mbabane Motors and Motruck submitted all the above mentioned documents. It was only Carson Auto that did not have the E50 000 bond or guarantee, SNPF compliance certificate and E50 000 bond. Instead of the bond, the company included a letter from a First National Bank (FNB). All the required vehicles were to be delivered at the CTA pool section by the winning tenderer.

Prior to this, a performance security is required, after the award of the contract, to the value of 10 per cent depending on the risk involved. The performance security is provided for in the form contained in the Special Conditions of the Contract and shall be valid for the period of the contract including any warranty obligations.

Once delivery has been completed, the supplier may apply to have the performance security reduced to one per cent to cover the period of warranty obligations. The performance security shall be provided in the form of a bank guarantee issued by a reputable bank located in the tenderer’s country or abroad, acceptable to government (as the procuring entity).

The security could also be on the form of an insurance bond from a reputable company acceptable to the procuring entity and shall be valid for the period of the contract including any warranty obligations. The Times SUNDAY recently reported that tender documents showed that Eswatini companies would be given preference in the evaluation of the tenders by adding a 15 per cent margin to the evaluated price of other tenderers, who were not eligible for the preference, during the financial evaluation of the tenders. A liSwati company was described as one that was registered in the Kingdom of Eswatini and has Emaswati as majority owners.

The vehicles that government intended to buy included 18 double cab 4 cylinder 2.8 diesel cars with a 6-speed manual transmission, accessorised with a canopy, CD radio, air conditioner, nudge bar and which ought to be white in colour.
Government also wanted to purchase 16 single cab 4 cylinder 2.8 diesel cars that also have a 6-speed manual transmission and similar accessories as the double cabs. Also on the shopping list were nine medium sedans with 6-speed manual transmission that fill unleaded petrol, have ABS braking system, ventilated front disc, accessorised with air conditioner and CD radio.

One of these sedans should have emergency response equipment.
One Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) has also been included in the list and should be a 4 cylinder 16 valve with a turbo charged intercooler. The SUV should be a 6-speed automatic with an anti-lock braking system and an electronic brake-force distribution, accessorised with a CD radio and air conditioner. A multi-purpose seven-seater 4 cylinder 2.2 CRDiEX diesel vehicle was also wanted by government and should have a 6-speed automatic transmission.
It was stated that it should also have a power sliding door, a smart tailgate, brakes (AWD), front brakes (ventilated disc), rear brakes (solid disc), anti-lock braking system, electronic stability control and hill start assist.