3 November 1999
Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
PRESS RELEASE BY THE MEC: FINANCE & ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Mr JABU MOLEKETI
The Gauteng bank tender was formally awarded to the Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd today. This sees the culmination of a process that started in June of this year. The contract has been awarded for a period of five years and runs until March 2005.
This has been a very rigorous and robust process that saw the bidding banks making presentations and fielding questions at a public hearing. A variety of institutions have played a key role in the process as well, such as the Reserve Bank of South Africa and the Banking Council of South Africa.
There was very little to choose between the three banks that tendered on the criteria used to evaluate the bids except for the price. Standard Bank had priced its services so competitively that there was consensus in the final decision. A condition of the award is the need for a comprehensive contract that will provide for a mid term review and performance targets.
We wish to place on record our sincere appreciation to both ABSA and First National Bank for the time, effort and investment made in bidding for the account. We hope to continue to engage with them on SMME and low cost housing financing and hope that each of them continues to work towards achieving the targets mentioned in their bids.