Sibongile’s areas of expertise include:

• Procurement processes by organs of state at national, provincial and municipal levels, including the drafting of procurement documents, procurement evaluation, drafting of agreements between organs of state and private parties, as well as advising on challenges to public procurement processes.
• Advising on the implementation of public-private partnerships, particularly relating to electricity and renewable energy.
• Legislative drafting and interpretation of statutes.
• Review of procurement procedures by organs of state.

Experience in Procurement and Public Law

• Advising the Department of Transport on procurement-related considerations pertaining to private access to South Africa’s freight network.
• Advising the Department of Home Affairs and the Border Management Agency in respect of the redevelopment of six land border posts including assisting with procurement of the private parties to redevelop these land borders.
• Advising the Department of Energy in the independent power producer procurement programme for renewable energy on all aspects of the design and implementation and drafting of the procurement process documents, and implementation of the process, as well as evaluation of bids and negotiation with preferred bidders, advising on constitutional matters, PFMA, PPPFA, MFMA and related legislation and on the interaction between various development and planning laws and the project and programmes.
• Advising Department of Basic Education, the Education Outcome Fund on a social investment fund backed by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for the development of early childhood education (ECD) programmes. We advised on the current regulatory regime for ECD, as well as the procurement-related considerations applicable to implementing certain funding arrangements with the State. In the context of South Africa’s underserviced ECD sector, this matter is important, as the outcome of this fund will bring together the public and private sector towards ensuring universal access to ECD educational programmes.
• Advising various state-owned entities in relation to challenges to public procurement processes, including bringing and defending judicial review proceedings.
  Advising various state-owned entities on the application of the Public Finance Management Act and related legislation and regulations (including preferential procurement) to their operations.
• Advising international and local clients on various government tender processes, including the drafting of procurement documents, procurement evaluation, as well as advising on challenges to public procurement processes.

Experience in Administrative Law

• Advising TGS Geophysical Company (UK) Limited on an administrative law challenge relating to administrative decisions taken by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment with regard to seismic surveys in coastal waters.  This matter is significant in that it demonstrates the importance of balancing the rights of communities against the constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to health and wellbeing and shows Bowmans advising on complex administrative disputes.

Experience in Environmental Law

• Advising MSC, a subsidiary of the international shipping and container operator in a neighbour dispute relating to dust emissions in terms of the National Environmental: Air Quality Control Act 39 of 2004 (Air Quality Act) and the City of Johannesburg’s Air Pollution Control By-Laws of 2021 (CoJ Air Pollution By-law).
• Conducting due diligence exercises in respect of environmental and other regulatory compliance issues in a range of sectors.
  General Experience
• Providing regulatory advice to local and international corporates in relation to compliance with mining, environmental, empowerment and employment health and safety laws.
• Providing regulatory support in commercial M&A transactions which includes assisting with the regulatory aspects of drafting the transactional documents and amendment or transfer of various regulatory licences and permits.
• Conducting due diligence exercises in respect of environmental, mining, empowerment, product regulation and advising on other regulatory compliance issues in a range of sectors including e-commerce operations, mining, industrial, commercial property and linear developments.
• Advising clients in the gambling, gaming and lotteries sectors, including advising several local, foreign and multinational clients regarding their operations in these sectors.
• Advising local and international clients on the broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) requirements and obligations related to doing business in South Africa, as well as compliance with the B-BBEE legislation.
• Advising local and international clients on consumer protection and product regulation and compliance, including permitting and compliance requirements for selling, manufacturing, distributing, producing, importing or exporting products.