Zadna tenders the .co.za registry contract, bids due 14 December

Zadna tenders the .co.za registry contract, bids due 14 December

3 November 2026: The .za Domain Name Authority (Zadna) has opened a tender, RFPZA2026/05, for the company that will run the registry behind .co.za, South Africa's main business domain, along with .web.za, .net.za and .org.za. Bids are due by 12:00 SAST on 14 December, after a compulsory online briefing on 20 November, and the winner takes over from the current operator, whose contract runs to September 2027.

Not yet independently verified. The ten-year term, the incumbent's contract dates and the acting CEO's quote come from TechCentral's report; we did not find Zadna's statement on its own site, and we have not read the full RFP document. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

What the operator will have to run

Zadna's notice describes the job in full. The successful bidder will manage and administer the four second-level domains and their registry databases; provide authoritative DNS, the registration data directory and related services; process domain transactions through a secure Shared Registry System; collect and account for fees; support and accredit registrars; and meet continuity, security, compliance and reporting obligations. Zadna invites bidders "from the broader ICT and domain name sectors".

TechCentral reports that the contract runs for ten years from takeover, that the tender stresses security and a managed handover, that registry infrastructure and data must stay in South Africa, and that bidders must show contributions to localisation, skills development and transformation.

The dates that decide who can bid

• 20 November, 11:00: compulsory online briefing on Microsoft Teams; attendance must be confirmed on 19 November.
• 30 November: clarification questions close.
• 14 December, 12:00 SAST: proposals due by email.

Missing the briefing rules a bidder out, so registry operators and DNS providers weighing a bid have two and a half weeks to decide.

An incumbent with a 2027 end date

The current operator is the ZA Registry Consortium (Zarc), which Zadna appointed in 2022 for five years from 1 October that year, according to TechCentral. Zadna keeps the regulatory, policy and oversight role whoever wins. "Continuity of service is central to this procurement," acting chief executive Lerato Seema said in a statement reported by TechCentral.

For the businesses that hold .co.za names, nothing changes today: registrations, renewals and DNS carry on through accredited registrars. The change matters to them later, through registry fees, the registrar platform and the cut-over itself, and registrars will be the first to see the new operator's systems. Companies with many .co.za domains should keep renewal dates and registrar contacts current through 2027, when the handover would fall.

Sources

• ZADNA: Request for proposal RFPZA2026/05, provision of registry services for the CO.ZA, WEB.ZA, NET.ZA and ORG.ZA second-level domains (read 2026-11-03), 2 November 2026
• TechCentral: Race opens to run South Africa's .co.za domain, 3 November 2026