Tender Summary: Review of the Frances Baard District Municipality Spatial Development Framework

Objectives

The primary objective is to review and update the existing Spatial Development Framework (SDF) to ensure full compliance with current national and provincial legislation. The updated framework must guide orderly, sustainable, and integrated spatial development across the district. It aims to optimize biophysical, socio-economic, and built environment resources while facilitating job creation, supporting local economic development, promoting sustainable rural livelihoods, and alleviating poverty. Additionally, the SDF will function as a strategic alignment tool to coordinate government-wide programmes, policies, and legislative mandates.

Scope

The project requires a comprehensive district-wide analysis covering heritage, economy, agriculture, environment, infrastructure, tourism, and social development. Key deliverables include:

• Delineating high-potential agricultural land and defining desired land-use patterns and urban edges.
• Assessing bulk infrastructure capacity and identifying upgrading requirements to meet future demand.
• Mapping priority spending zones, nodal areas for service delivery, and cross-border developmental challenges.
• Addressing spatial reconstruction, settlement patterns, institutional arrangements, and alignment with provincial growth plans.
• Integrating SPLUMA planning principles: spatial justice, sustainability, efficiency, resilience, and good administration.

The service provider must manage stakeholder engagement through a Technical Steering Committee and a broader Project Steering Committee, execute a mandated public participation process, and facilitate the formal adoption of the SDF by Municipal Council. The project timeline is eight months, structured around seven critical milestones prescribed by national guidelines.

Technical Requirements

Bidders must demonstrate strict adherence to environmental, municipal, and spatial planning legislation. The final output must be submitted in both hard copy and electronic formats, with all spatial data provided in GIS-compatible files containing accurate, descriptive attribute information. The documentation must heavily utilize visual representations, including maps, graphics, and photographs, to illustrate spatial analysis and conceptual frameworks. Required submissions include an inception report, monthly progress updates, a draft SDF plan, a final consolidated report, an executive summary, and a public participation report. The contractor will also be responsible for publishing gazette notices, managing public comment periods, and presenting the framework to council committees for approval.

Skills Requirements

The project team must comprise highly qualified, professionally registered specialists. The successful bidder must provide:

• Two (2) Professional Town Planners registered with SACPLAN, each with three to five years of direct experience in SDF reviews.
• One (1) Technical or Candidate Town Planner registered with SACPLAN, with two to three years of relevant SDF review experience.
• One (1) GIS Practitioner (Technologist or Professional) registered with SAGC, possessing three to five years of experience in spatial analysis, database management, and thematic mapping for SDFs.

All team members must submit certified qualifications, detailed CVs, and proof of professional registration. Evaluation will prioritize bidders with proven expertise in SDF reviews and strong reference letters demonstrating past performance.

Key Terminology

• Spatial Development Framework (SDF): A statutory planning instrument that guides long-term land use, infrastructure placement, and settlement patterns within a municipality, ensuring alignment with national and provincial development strategies.
• SPLUMA & MSA: National legislation mandating structured spatial planning and requiring municipalities to integrate the SDF into their Integrated Development Plans.
• DRDLR SDF Guidelines 2017: Official departmental directives outlining the mandatory structure, content, and procedural steps for reviewing municipal SDFs.
• 80/20 Preference Point System: A procurement evaluation model where eighty percent of scoring is based on price competitiveness, and twenty percent is allocated to specific socio-economic goals, such as procuring services from enterprises operating within the district municipal area.