Central Supplier Database · Free · 2026
CSD registration, step by step
Registering on the Central Supplier Database is free, takes about an hour, and you do it yourself at secure.csd.gov.za. You need your ID number, your CIPC registration number if you have one, your SARS tax number, and a business bank account in the registered name of your entity. The CSD checks all three automatically, and when it passes you get a supplier number starting with MAAA. Without that number, government cannot buy from you.
The process
Five steps to a verified CSD profile
None of this is difficult. It goes wrong when people start before they have their details in front of them, so gather everything first and the rest is data capture.
- 01
Get your paperwork together first
Registration goes badly when you start without the details. You need your South African ID number (or passport if you are a foreign national), your CIPC company registration number if you are registered as a company, your SARS tax reference number, and your business bank account details, with the account in the exact name of the entity you are registering. Sole proprietors register under their own ID number, which is completely normal and does not disadvantage you.
- 02
Create your account on the CSD portal
Registration happens at secure.csd.gov.za, and it is free. There is no agent you need to pay and no fee at any point. Anyone charging you to register on the CSD is charging you for something you can do yourself in about an hour. You start by creating a user account with an email address and cellphone number, then verify both before you can continue.
- 03
Capture supplier, address and contact details
You work through supplier identification, then contact details, address, and industry classification. Take the industry and commodity classification seriously. It determines which buyers find you when they search the database for suppliers of what you sell, so pick every code that genuinely applies to your business rather than only the most obvious one.
- 04
Add banking and tax details for verification
This is where most registrations stall. The CSD verifies your details automatically against CIPC, SARS and your bank, and all three have to come back clean. The bank account must be in the registered entity's name, not a director's personal account and not a trading name the bank does not recognise. Your tax affairs must be in order with SARS, because the CSD pulls your tax compliance status directly rather than asking you to upload a certificate.
- 05
Add B-BBEE and submit
Capture your B-BBEE status. If your annual turnover is R10 million or less you are an Exempted Micro Enterprise and a sworn affidavit is enough, which you can get commissioned free at a police station or Commissioner of Oaths. Above that threshold you need a verification certificate from an accredited agency. Then submit. Once verification completes you get a unique supplier number beginning with MAAA, and that number is what buyers use to look you up.
When verification fails
The three things that actually go wrong
Verification is automated against CIPC, SARS and your bank. When it fails it is nearly always one of these, and none of them are fixed on the CSD itself.
Bank verification fails
Almost always a name mismatch. The account name at the bank must match the registered entity name exactly, character for character. A close-enough trading name will not pass. Fix it at your bank first, then re-trigger verification on the CSD.
Tax status comes back non-compliant
The CSD reads your status straight from SARS, so nothing you upload will override it. Clear outstanding returns or arrangements on eFiling, wait for SARS to reflect compliant, and the CSD picks it up on the next verification cycle.
CIPC details do not match
Usually a company whose CIPC record is out of date after a director change or an annual return that was never filed. Update the record at CIPC, then re-verify. This one catches a lot of dormant companies being revived to chase a tender.
After you are registered
A CSD number makes you eligible, not visible
This is the part that catches people out. The CSD is a database of suppliers, not a feed of opportunities. Being on it means a buyer can legally do business with you and can find you if they go looking, but it will not tell you when something you can bid on gets published. That still comes down to watching what buyers advertise, every day, across every department, municipality and state-owned entity, which is the job ProTenders does for you.
Questions
CSD registration questions, answered
- Do I have to register on the CSD to bid for government tenders?
- Yes. Since April 2016 the Central Supplier Database has been the single database of suppliers for all South African government institutions, and organs of state are required to check it before doing business with you. If you are not registered and verified, your bid can be disqualified on that alone, no matter how good your pricing is.
- How much does CSD registration cost?
- Nothing. It is free, and it is self-service at secure.csd.gov.za. There is no registration fee, no annual fee, and no official agent you have to pay. If someone is charging you a few hundred rand to do it, they are charging you to fill in a form you can complete yourself.
- How long does CSD registration take?
- Capturing everything usually takes under an hour if you have your ID, CIPC number, tax number and bank details in front of you. Verification against CIPC, SARS and your bank is automated and often comes back within a day. What stretches it out is a failed check, most commonly a bank account name that does not match the registered entity name.
- What is a MAAA number?
- It is the unique supplier number the CSD issues once your registration is verified, and it always starts with MAAA. Buyers use it to identify you, and you will be asked for it on almost every bid document, so keep it somewhere you can find quickly.
- Can a sole proprietor register on the CSD?
- Yes. You register under your own South African ID number rather than a company registration number, and it does not count against you when bids are evaluated. Plenty of successful government suppliers operate as sole proprietors, particularly on smaller RFQs.
- Do I need to renew my CSD registration?
- There is no annual renewal to pay for, but your registration is not fire-and-forget. The CSD re-verifies your tax compliance and banking details on an ongoing basis, so if your SARS status slips or you change bank accounts without updating the CSD, you can quietly become non-compliant and only find out when a bid is rejected. Check your profile before every major submission.
- I am registered on the CSD. How do I actually find tenders?
- Registration makes you eligible to bid, but it does not send you opportunities. The CSD is a supplier database, not a tender feed. You still need to watch what buyers publish, which is what ProTenders does: every tender from eTenders.gov.za, provincial departments, municipalities and state-owned entities in one searchable feed, with free alerts when something matches what you supply.