As preparations for the 2010 World Cup in KwaZulu-Natal continue, there are still ample opportunities for investment in the South African province. Although many of the largest tenders from eThekwini municipality (greater Durban area) have already been awarded, a number still remain. Topping this list are tenders for building/refurbishing three FIFA soccer Training Camps.

The municipality will soon make public additional investment and tender opportunities, including a possible large traffic project in Durban and prospects for work in fiber optics.

Please visit http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/government/munadmin/jobs to view the tenders available from eThekwini. The website also includes subcontracts that are available for the new Moses Mabhida soccer stadium, the construction of which was awarded to a Group Five-WBHO consortium.

Furthermore, the construction of King Shaka Airport northwest of Durban (in the city of La Mercy), closer to Richards Bay, is an indicator of many new business opportunities shifting to this coastal city. Some projects, which are currently planned for construction, include a new soccer-training stadium (with an approximate capacity of 2,000) and surrounding base camp, as well as a large road through the city center.

Other areas in KZN that have several fairly large-scale contract opportunities include, Amajuba http://amajuba.gov.za/taxonomy/term/21, Ugu http://www.ugu.org.za/, and Umgungundlovu. A FIFA Training Camp and Base Camp are scheduled to be built in each of these districts (in the cities of Newcastle, Port Shepstone, and Pietermaritzburg, respectively).

Probably the biggest source of business opportunities in KZN is currently provincial government projects, rather than municipality projects. One major example is the Dube Trade Port/Airport, which combines a new, world-class airport (King Shaka) that is three times the size of the current Durban International Airport, with a state-of-the-art trade port. The construction of this massive project was also contracted to a Group Five-WBHO consortium. However, many subcontracts for this promising development have yet to be awarded.

PLEASE NOTE:

To bid on most (if not all) of these construction or construction-related tenders, registration with South Africa’s Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) on part of the interested company is required. This can be done on www.cidb.org.za. The relevant forms are available on http://www.cidb.org.za/registers/Forms.aspx.

Once registration is complete, the CIDB assigns each company a Grade that ranges from 1-9. For example, tenders available to Grade 1 companies are the most unlimited in nature, while those available to Grade 9 companies are the most specific, and usually are for the largest contracts or subcontracts.

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