Economic Development and Growth Strategy Services NEW

SALGA, the South African Local Government Association, has issued a Request for Proposals for a professional service provider to develop Economic Development and Growth Strategies (EDGS) for the West Rand District Municipality and three local municipalities in the Gauteng City Region: Merafong City, Emfuleni and Lesedi. The assignment delivers five final products: four separately bound, Council-adoptable municipal strategies, each with its own localised diagnostic, vision, 4-6 strategic pillars, scenarios, investment chapter, sector sub-strategies, costed project pipeline, implementation plan and M&E framework; and a Close-Out Report with an Institutionalisation Support Plan. The strategies must share a common template and evidence base, remain compatible at regional level, and be capable of being lifted directly into each municipality's District Development Model One Plan.

The scope covers an inception phase and data request protocol, a socio-economic diagnostic including Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) mapping, stakeholder engagement and community workshops, strategy formulation, implementation planning, capacity building for municipal LED officials, and final adoption support. Mandatory alignment includes the Constitution, the National LED Framework (2018-2028), the GCR Economic Growth and Development Plan 2030, Growing Gauteng Together 2030, the Re-imagined Industrial Strategy, the NDP 2030, Gauteng's Township Economic Development Act (2022), B-BBEE instruments and the SALGA National Rural Development Strategy. Each strategy must include dedicated chapters on five cross-cutting themes (innovation and digital transformation, township economic development, MSME support, B-BBEE and transformation, and ABCD), an old CBD revitalisation chapter, and a rural-node alignment chapter. Scenario planning must address mine closure, steel-sector volatility, climate and water risk, and energy transition.

The contract must be completed within 15 weeks of inception, with payment tied to acceptance of each deliverable. Bidders must provide a named team including a Project Leader with a postgraduate qualification and 10+ years' strategy experience, an LED and investment specialist, two sector analysts, a registered spatial planner, a rural development specialist, a capacity-building expert, an M&E specialist and a project administrator, committed for the full duration. Functionality carries 100 points with a minimum threshold of 70, and the evaluation uses the 80/20 price and specific-goals preference system. Proposals must include at least one verifiable reference letter on client letterhead for a comparable economic development strategy with a contract value of R1 million or more, and must be submitted through the SALGA SCM Supplyflow Portal. Proposals remain valid for 120 days.