Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Eskom, the South Africa and trans-Africa electrical power utility, has a capacity expansion project that is estimated to cost roughly R340 billion. The programme is anticipated to continue through 2018. Eskom will be contracting with a multitude of suppliers and it is imperative that the projects delivered under the capacity expansion programme meet Eskom’s required quality standards. The question then arises whether the set quality standards are sufficiently comprehensive to provide confidence that suppliers will achieve high quality standards. This aim of this research was to examine supplier assessment programmes to determine the criteria that will best provide supplier assurance. The researcher consulted a vast range of literature available on supplier quality assessment programmes. From the literature consulted, there appeared to be some recurring themes from the range of assessment tools. It also becomes apparent that the assessment tool cannot only focus on a quality system, but a balance of strategic and operational focus was needed to fully understand suppliers’ ability to deliver. One of the key considerations was establishing longer-term collaborative relationships with key suppliers. Long-term relations encourage trust, transparency and innovation. It was equally important to ensure that operational assessments provided insight on suppliers’ capability. Based on the literature reviewed, a proposed framework was tested against the current methodology for supplier evaluation. From these comparisons, some gaps were identified and recommendations were suggested to improve the supplier evaluation programme.