‘Buy my tender for R120 000’
On Tuesday, a group of 26 companies in the Pinetown area failed to obtain an urgent interdict against the implementation of KwaZuluNatal’s new school-feeding tender. They will continue to fight until they run out of money, the group vowed — because the evidence of dodgy dealings is overwhelming.
“There are successful bidders who are currently trying to market their bid to persons who were previously providing services and were unsuccessful, and to do so at a premium,” said Tyvitta Baloyi in an affidavit put before the high court in Durban this week.
“One such bidder is seeking payment of R120 000. There are others who are approaching existing suppliers for loans and who clearly have no experience or expertise.”
Baloyi’s company, Qala Okusha Trading, is the primary applicant in the group, which, having failed to convince the court of the matter’s urgency, will now continue at the usual slow pace of civil matters. They want the tender that covers all 1848 school food providers to be declared invalid and set aside.
The KwaZulu-Natal department of education opposed the application on the basis that Baloyi’s group had not shown urgency, had not exhausted alternative resolution methods and had made what it contended were fatal errors in process of serving their papers.
The group took two weeks to put together their submission and then gave the provincial government just one day to respond, the education department told the court.
To continue their fight, Baloyi’s group must now serve papers on 191 respondents, the companies that won tenders to provide food at schools in the district — if they can afford it. Tracking down companies that do not exist takes time and money, said Baloyi’s lawyer, Julie Harris.
Baloyi said she and her colleagues knew of many legitimate companies, competitors of theirs, that had won tenders at schools in their districts.
“Many of them can do this job,” she said. “But there are many others we know can’t do it. I will be very surprised if, come Monday, children don’t go hungry.”
KwaZulu-Natal education department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi characterised as sour grapes all complaints and legal action regarding the tender. “These providers had been benefiting from government work for years,” he said. “Now, all of a sudden, because a chance is given through due process to other people replacing them, they’ve got issues.”