The Border Management Authority (BMA) has agreed to extend the submission date for requests for proposal for the 'Redevelopment of the Six Priority Land Ports of Entry' project to July 4.

The six priority land ports of entry earmarked for redevelopment include Beitbridge on the border with Zimbabwe, Lebombo on the border with Mozambique, Maseru Bridge and Ficksburg on the border with Lesotho, Kopfontein on the border with Botswana, and Oshoek on the border with eSwatini.

"The primary rationale for this extension of time is to give an additional opportunity for the private sector to conduct broader consultations with each other and provide the high-quality bids to the government," it said.

The redevelopment of these ports of entry is one of the programmes that the BMA and the Department of Home Affairs is pursing on a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement to improve the facilitation of people and goods across the ports.

"The procurement process is, therefore, subject to the procedures set out in Treasury regulations for initiating, procuring and concluding PPP projects. Treasury's Regulation 16 specifically requires that a PPP project be demonstrably affordable, must result in value-for-money for government, and transfer substantial technical, operation and financial risks to the private sector contracting party," the BMA said.

⁠The project covers the full infrastructure development of each designated port of entry and the provision of required services to support the functioning of the BMA and its stakeholders. To ensure that the ongoing operations at each of the designated ports of entry are not interrupted, construction will be undertaken in a phased approach.

During October and November, potential bidders undertook organised site visits to the six ports of entry to assess the current state of the infrastructure and appreciate the complexity of the work at hand. After the site visits, several requests were received from the potential bidders to extend the deadline for the submission of proposals, the authority said.

⁠The requests for extension were mainly owing to the complexity and the unique nature of the project, the time needed for the prospective bidders to raise funds to finance the project under the PPP arrangement, and the holiday period between December 2023 and January 2024, which interrupted the consultative work of the potential bidders about the project, the BMA averred.