Transnet clinched the prestigious GIBS Logistics Achiever Gold Award (LAA) 2025 for its transformative e-Tender solution at a ceremony held at the GIBS Business School in Johannesburg last week.
The award recognises Transnet’s role in setting a new national benchmark for public sector procurement through a fully digital, efficient and inclusive system that actively drives economic transformation.
Transnet described its e-Tender solution in a statement on Friday as “a hallmark of operational efficiency”, demonstrating its commitment to optimising procurement processes.
“This enhanced efficiency is matched by improved governance. The system includes an embedded audit trail, real-time reporting, and automated business rules that have driven a verified 40% reduction in irregular expenditure,” Transnet said.
Since implementation, the portal has processed over one million documents and enabled the redeployment of more than 50 employees who previously were responsible for administrative tasks associated with the processing of tender documents such as stamping, signing and filing documents.
These efficiency gains directly contributed to substantial financial value, including R1.8 billion in the 2024/2025 financial year, the company said.
Transnet Group chief procurement officer, Vuledzani Nemukula, said the portal was a leap forward from manual processes, replacing physical tender boxes and paper submissions with a cloud-based, secure and transparent digital environment.
“We have not had physical tender boxes at Transnet since October 2021. This innovation has fundamentally changed the speed and integrity of Transnet’s supply chain management,” he said.
The portal is also a critical enabler of the knowledge economy. By centralising and standardising procurement data, the platform is laying the groundwork for a future powered by advanced analytics. It has also increased accessibility for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
“We have tailored our submission times, to ensure SMMEs can make use of night-time data to upload large documents, saving them additional costs,” he said.
The portal has attracted over 30 000 suppliers, broadening the participation base and fostering accountability and public trust.
“Digitalisation levels the playing field, ensuring that geography and administrative complexity are no longer barriers to entry for SMMEs seeking to participate in the lucrative logistics value chain,” Transnet said.
Transnet Group’s chief information officer Pandelani Munyai said the milestone award aligned with the company’s broader ICT Digital Modernisation Strategy, which aims to transform how technology supports operational excellence and business agility.
“Through business process automation, data-driven intelligence, and platform-based integration, we are not just digitising workflows, we are redefining how the enterprise operates,” Munyani said.
“Our vision is to make automation a catalyst for growth, where technology enhances human capability, accelerates service delivery, and strengthens Transnet’s competitiveness in a connected, data-driven economy.”
The e-Tender portal marked the beginning of Transnet’s digital transformation journey. The next phase of the programme, which is currently under way, involves implementing a comprehensive end-to-end digital solution.
By automating manual steps in the procurement lifecycle, the new digital solution seeks to slash the procurement cycle time from approximately six months to a projected 43 days. This represents a 75% improvement in turnaround time.
The system's roadmap includes predictive analytics, real-time insights into supplier performance and pricing, and automated data cleanup and classification.
“This move towards data-driven decision-making ensures that Transnet remains agile, resilient, and at the forefront of logistics management, allowing us to transition from simply procuring goods to strategically managing our entire value chain with scientific precision,” Nemukula said.
