South Africa: SASSA Issues Tender for Cloud Contact Centre Solution

SASSA seeks a cloud-based omni-channel contact centre as a service solution. (Image source: iStock) National Treasury’s eTenders Portal delivers a mixed bag for the ICT industry this week, with a rush of new advertisements favouring those companies that are eager to engage in lower value, quick turnaround quotation requests. A new tender from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), however, is likely to draw attention. The advertisement will see the appointment of a service provider to deliver a cloud-based omni-channel contact centre as a service (CCaaS) solution, together with contact centre operations. The procurement forms part of the agency’s drive to modernise citizen engagement and improve service delivery across its national footprint. “SASSA currently provides customer support through internal and outsourced contact centre arrangements, regional and local offices, e-mail channels, online services and other customer engagement platforms,” it says. “The current contact centre managed services contract ends in November 2026. The existing solution is fragmented and does not provide a fully integrated omni-channel experience, single customer view, unified reporting, automated self-service, or a sustainable distributed workforce capability.” The new contract will cover both technology and workforce operations, requiring bidders to propose and justify the resources needed to meet SASSA’s service levels. The agency estimates demand at 1 million voice calls and 5 000 e-mails per month, with a target of answering and closing 90% of these interactions within agreed service levels. The average call handling time is set at five minutes, which will serve as the benchmark for workforce planning. The solution must consolidate SASSA’s existing fragmented support channels into a single platform, enabling citizens to engage via voice, e-mail, WhatsApp, SMS, web chat, chatbots, social media and self-service channels. Digital-first capabilities, including AI-enabled virtual assistants, automated FAQs and customer journey analytics, are required to reduce reliance on voice calls and expand self-service options available 24/7. Security and compliance form a critical part of the tender, with requirements for data residency in South Africa, adherence to POPIA, disaster recovery and full interaction recording across all channels. The platform must also integrate with SASSA’s grant administration and customer care systems, providing a single customer view and unified reporting. Bidders will be expected to provide not only the technology but also supervisors, quality assurance teams, workforce management, AI specialists and overall operations management. The tender stipulates that 90% of enquiries and complaints must be resolved within five working days, underscoring the agency’s focus on service efficiency and accountability. Interested parties have until 11am on 9 October to submit bids. Other tenders that make this week’s top 10: Eskom is also advertising for an assurance data analytics system that automates routine tasks, applies AI/ML to identify risks and patterns, and provides advanced analytics to enhance audit precision for a contract period of six years, including maintenance and support. The lack of a modern assurance data analytics tool exposes the organisation to significant operational, financial, compliance, and reputational risks, Eskom says. Manual audit processes are inefficient, prone to human error, and restrict audit coverage to samples rather than entire data populations. This increases the risk of undetected fraud or errors, delayed decision-making, and missed opportunities for strategic insights, it adds. The City of Cape Town is calling for the provision of a scanning, indexing and storage service for its motor vehicle registration and licensing section and ethics and forensics services department. The metro explains that due to the highly-confidential nature of ethics and forensic matters, these investigations