Appointment of a panel of recruitment agencies for a period of three years

The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) invites bids for the appointment of a panel of recruitment agencies for a period of three years. The DSTI requires a skilled workforce to deliver on its mandate and uses various recruitment methods to broaden its pool of applicants, including, where required, recruitment agencies for temporary employment services and headhunting.

The Department will continue to advertise and fill vacancies through its established recruitment and selection processes. The appointed agencies will provide supplementary sourcing, headhunting and related recruitment support for temporary employment services and for permanent posts identified by the Department as critical and priority vacancies, at SMS or non-SMS level.

Temporary employment services cover instances where the Department cannot fill a post permanently within the required timeframe or needs short-term capacity to maintain continuity of operations. The agency sources and screens candidates, conducts suitability checks, facilitates performance agreements and reviews, manages discipline, grievance, benefits, timesheets and invoicing, and conducts exit interviews. Headhunting is used to complement standard recruitment where advertising yields too few qualified applicants or a selection process fails to produce a recommended candidate.

Temporary employment services are remunerated on an 80/20 split of the gross amount — 80% to the employee and 20% to the agency as a handling fee. Headhunting attracts a once-off placement fee of 10% of the candidate’s total remuneration package on assumption of duty, and a placement fee of 10% is payable when a temporary employee is appointed permanently in the same post. All amounts must be quoted in South African Rand and include VAT.

Successful bidders will be appointed to a panel of service providers for three years. Appointment to the panel does not guarantee that a service provider will be used; use of a provider is subject to the signing of a service level agreement. The DSTI will convene quarterly engagement meetings with all appointed providers.

Bids will be evaluated in two phases. Phase 1 assesses functionality — qualifications (15), company experience in sourcing and staffing (15), headhunting placements of senior or top management in the past five years (15), placements of middle to lower-level employees in the past five years (15) and advertising of posts across platforms that reach diverse groups (25) — and a minimum score of 60% must be achieved to proceed. Bids that do not meet the threshold will not be considered further.

Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs) and Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) that are at least 51% owned by black women, youth, persons with disabilities, or persons residing in townships and rural areas are encouraged to apply.