In South Africa, a tenderpreneur is a person in government or the private sector who obtains private or government tenders and contracts to facilitate outsourced services. The word ''tenderpreneur'' is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "

tendering An invitation to tender (ITT, also known as a call for bids or a request for tenders) is a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors looking to obtain an award of business activ ...

" and "

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

". Some commentators believe that this practice might give rise to a

kleptocracy Kleptocracy (from Greek , "thief", or , "I steal", and from , "power, rule"), also referred to as thievocracy, is a government whose corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use political power to expropriate the wealth of the people and land the ...

as a deviant mutation of a democracy if left unchecked. In this regard a kleptocracy is defined as the condition arising when a political elite manipulates the three arms of government (legislative, executive and judicial) with the intention of capturing resources that will enrich that elite, a general phenomenon known as elite capture. Tenderpreneurship is often accomplished by overpricing and/or shoddy workmanship and/or excessive 'under the table' advances termed "commissions". '' The Star'', a South African newspaper, describes a tenderpreneur as "someone politically well-connected who has got rich through the government tendering system". In January 2010,

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

leader

Blade Nzimande Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande (born 14 April 1958 in Edendale near Pietermaritzburg) is a South African politician, sociologist, and former anti-apartheid activist who is currently serving as Minister of Science, Technology and Innov ...

called for transparency in the awarding of tenders, saying "let's be bold, let's go and promote small entrepreneurs and defeat tenderpreneurs, those who steal." The case involving the Gupta family and their close ties to the administration of president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

can be classified as tenderpreneurism.

References

Redefining the tenderpreneur
Economy of South Africa Corruption in South Africa Neologisms Political terminology in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-stub

See also

References