The Public Procurement Act 2024 was struck down. What tenders run under now

For two years South African suppliers were told a single procurement law was coming. The Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024 was signed in July 2024 and was meant to replace the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and pull the supply chain rules for national, provincial and municipal buyers into one statute. It was never brought into force.

On 17 September 2026 the Constitutional Court declared the Act invalid with immediate effect. As reported, the Court found that Parliament had not run an adequate public participation process. The order was not suspended, so there is no period in which the Act operates while Parliament fixes it. The draft General Public Procurement Regulations published on 16 April 2026 have nothing left to sit under.

We have worked from law firm and press reports of the judgment. Before you quote it in a bid, a dispute or a board paper, read the judgment itself on the Constitutional Court's site.

What still applies

The framework suppliers already know stays in place:

• The Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and the Preferential Procurement Regulations 2022, in force since 16 January 2023.
• The 80/20 system for tenders up to and including R50 million, and 90/10 above R50 million.
• Points for the specific goals each organ of state sets in its own procurement policy. B-BBEE evidence is often how you claim them, but check what each tender actually scores.
• The PFMA and Treasury instructions for national and provincial departments, and the MFMA and municipal supply chain regulations for municipalities.
• The standard bidding documents: SBD 1, the SBD 3 pricing schedules, SBD 4 bidder's disclosure, SBD 6.1 and SBD 7, or the municipal MBD versions.

What this means for a supplier

Very little changes on the ground, which is the point. A business that was getting ready for a new regime can stop waiting. The documents a tender asks for are the same ones it asked for last year: a current CSD registration with matching details, a SARS tax compliance status in good standing, B-BBEE evidence that fits your size and is less than 12 months old, the signed SBD forms, and the labour documents the tender specifies.

Two items deserve attention because many supplier checklists still get them wrong. SBD 4 now covers what the old SBD 8 and SBD 9 asked about past supply chain conduct and independent bid determination, so a separate SBD 8 or 9 is usually not needed. And since 1 January 2025 the amended Employment Equity Act ties state contracts to a section 53 compliance certificate, which even employers with fewer than 50 employees may need.

What to expect next

Treasury would have to start a new bill, with a new public participation process, before a single procurement statute can come back. That takes time. Until then, expect buyers to keep issuing tenders under the 2022 regulations and their existing policies.

Sources

• Constitutional Court of South Africa (home page). The judgment of 17 September 2026 is cited as [2026] ZACC 37.
• Deneys Reitz, Public Procurement Act 2024 invalid.
• BusinessDay, 17 September 2026.
• National Treasury, PPR 2022 implementation guide.
• eTenders, SBD forms 2024.

General guidance, not legal advice.