The Limpopo High Court has ordered a freeze on school nutrition tender contracts awarded by the provincial Department of Education.
Limpopo tender fraud ruling halts contracts
The decision comes after complaints that the tender process, which is the official way government awards contracts to companies, may have been unfair or unlawful.
According to court documents, the contracts under investigation are Bid Nos: LDE/B52/2019/20 and LDE/B01/2024/25, which were awarded to companies including Monkwe Dietrics Services, Alijoy Trading Enterprise, and Nkasi General Trading.
Other bidders challenged the tenders, arguing that the way the contracts were handed out should be reviewed and possibly cancelled.
What the court decided
The High Court made two key rulings:
- No appeal allowed: One of the companies tried to appeal a 2022 judgment linked to the tenders. The court refused, saying there was no reasonable chance of success.
- Tenders frozen: Judges granted an interim interdict — a temporary court order that stops all work linked to the tenders until the full case is finalised. In simple terms, this means the companies cannot continue with their contracts until the court decides whether the tenders were legal.
In both rulings, the Department of Education was ordered to pay the legal costs of the applicants who brought the cases.
The tenders involved the school nutrition programme, which provides meals to learners across Limpopo. If contracts are frozen, it can affect how food is delivered to schools — though government is expected to make temporary arrangements while the case continues.
The matter has also drawn political attention. Although Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba was not named as a respondent in the court case, the Department of Education falls under her administration.
This has linked her name indirectly to the controversy. Critics argue that as Premier, she is politically accountable for how provincial tenders are handled, even if she did not personally take part in the procurement or legal battles.
Those challenging the contracts claim there were irregularities in the way bids were handled. Complaints include unfair treatment of certain bidders and the possibility that the contracts were awarded without following proper legal and financial rules.
While the court has not yet made a final finding of fraud, the freezing of contracts shows that the judges consider the concerns serious enough to pause all work until the review is complete.
As Acting Judge RS Mashifane noted in one of the rulings:
“The application for interim interdict succeeds… the respondents are hereby interdicted and restrained from taking any further steps to perform their respective obligations.”
The case will now move to a full review, where the High Court will examine the tender process in detail to decide whether the contracts should be permanently set aside.
Until then, the companies involved cannot deliver services under the disputed contracts.