Zanele T. Radebe

Zanele T. Radebe serves as the Office of Acquisition and Assistance (Secretary) for USAID/South Africa, overseeing the strategic procurement and assistance frameworks that enable the agency’s mission to advance sustainable development across Southern Africa. In this capacity, she ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning contracting activities with USAID’s priorities in public health resilience, governance strengthening, and environmental conservation. Her role involves directing the acquisition lifecycle for technical assistance services, managing interagency coordination, and ensuring transparency and accountability in all procurement decisions. She primarily handles non-construction professional services contracts designed to build local institutional capacity and support civic engagement initiatives. While no specific contractor relationships are currently identifiable in the procurement record, Ms. Radebe’s office engages a broad spectrum of professional service providers—including international development consultants, research institutions, and technical implementation partners—frequently working with firms possessing deep regional expertise in HIV/AIDS program management, wildlife protection, and democratic governance. Vendor partnerships are characterized by long-term, performance-based engagements that emphasize local capacity building and knowledge transfer over transactional service delivery. Ms. Radebe’s office exhibits a strong preference for open, non-set-aside acquisitions, with 100% of procurement activity conducted under unrestricted competition. This reflects a strategic focus on selecting the most qualified providers based on technical merit and regional experience, rather than socioeconomic classifications. While small business set-asides are not currently utilized, the office maintains compliance with all applicable federal small business policies and encourages participation through unrestricted competition. The office’s procurement portfolio is exclusively focused on NAICS 541990—All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services—encompassing technical assistance, policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity-building services. These acquisitions support USAID’s core domains: public health systems strengthening, environmental sustainability, and civic institution development, requiring contractors with specialized expertise in Southern African contexts and multilateral collaboration frameworks.