CSD Registration in South Africa

The Central Supplier Database (CSD) is run by National Treasury. It’s the single supplier register that all government departments, municipalities, and state-owned entities use to verify suppliers before paying them. Every business that wants to supply government has to be on it.

Yes. You can’t submit a tender bid to a national or provincial government department, a municipality, or most SOEs without an active CSD profile. The tender documents will ask for your CSD supplier number on the cover page. No CSD number, no bid.

R540 once-off through Govchain. National Treasury doesn’t charge a registration fee, the CSD itself is free. The R540 covers preparing the application, running the pre-checks (tax, banking, B-BBEE), submitting it, and resolving the verification steps that most often get rejected.

Around 10 working days from when we have all your documents. The bottleneck is usually National Treasury verifying your tax compliance with SARS, which can take a few days on its own. We keep you updated if it runs longer.

Three things cause most rejections: no active TCS PIN with SARS (or one that has expired), banking details that don’t match what your bank confirms, or missing B-BBEE proof. We pre-check all three before submission so the application doesn’t bounce.

You need an active Tax Compliance Status (TCS) PIN with SARS, which is the modern version of the tax clearance certificate. National Treasury verifies it directly with SARS during CSD verification. If you don’t have one yet, we can sort it as part of the process. See Tax Clearance Certificate for the standalone service.

Yes. CSD requires you to upload your B-BBEE status. Companies with turnover under R10 million can use a free B-BBEE affidavit. Larger companies need a B-BBEE certificate from a verified rating agency. Govchain provides the B-BBEE affidavit free as a separate service.

Your CSD profile has to be kept current. Banking details, directors, address, B-BBEE status, and tax compliance must all reflect reality. Most departments check that the profile is active before paying you. Plan to log in at least quarterly to refresh details and confirm tax compliance is still green.

Yes. CSD allows sole proprietors and freelancers, trusts, partnerships, and registered companies. The verification requirements are similar across all types: identity, tax compliance, banking, and B-BBEE.

CIPC is where you register your company as a legal entity (you get a company number). CSD is where you register that company as a supplier to government (you get a CSD supplier number). You need CIPC registration first, then you register that company on CSD to bid for tenders. They’re separate registrations with different agencies.

Indefinitely, as long as you keep it current. National Treasury doesn’t require annual renewal of the registration itself, but compliance data (tax, banking, B-BBEE) is verified in real time on every tender. If any of those go stale, the profile shows as inactive and you can’t bid until they’re refreshed.

Yes, as long as the company is registered with CIPC in South Africa and has a SARS tax number. National Treasury treats it the same as any other South African supplier. Foreign directors are fine.

A unique reference number issued by National Treasury once your CSD registration is verified. It typically starts with MAAA for individuals or MAAB for companies, followed by digits. The number goes on every tender cover sheet and invoice you submit to government.

The Central Supplier Database portal is at csd.gov.za. Log in with the email address and password set up when the profile was created — the portal sends a one-time PIN to the cell number or email on the profile, so keep those current. Govchain registers the profile on your behalf, but the login credentials belong to you and you keep full control of the account.

Log in to the CSD portal and download the registration report from your supplier profile. The report shows your supplier number, verification status, and compliance details, and it’s what tender documents mean when they ask for "proof of CSD registration". Buyers can also verify you directly on the database with just your MAAA number.

You register once and every government department, municipality, and SOE can find and verify you — no re-submitting certified documents with each bid. Your tax, banking, and B-BBEE status are verified in real time, which speeds up award decisions and payment. Buyers also search the CSD when sourcing quotes for smaller purchases, so an active profile brings opportunities you never tendered for.

Your CIPC registration documents, certified ID copies of all directors, a bank confirmation letter not older than three months, an active Tax Compliance Status PIN from SARS, and your B-BBEE affidavit or certificate. The details on all of them must match exactly — a trading name on the bank letter that differs from the CIPC name is enough to fail verification. We check the set before filing so the application doesn’t bounce.