Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
A legal battle is deepening in Gauteng over the national school nutrition programme, with affected bidders demanding that Premier Panyaza Lesufi intervene over what they say are persistent failures by the provincial department of basic education to comply with court orders on missing tender records.
The bidders say the integrity of a R9 billion feeding scheme for learners in primary, secondary and special-needs schools is at stake across the province.
According to court papers and a letter from Lisa Sukdev, representing aggrieved service providers, the education department was ordered in May 2025 by the high court to release bid adjudication documents, including records from the bid evaluation committee (BEC) and bid adjudication committee (BAC), evaluation scorecards, allocations to schools and learners, and the criteria used to award contracts. The department has refused, insisting under oath that many of the documents do not exist.
“There are mandatory procedures that are gazetted by the National Treasury that have not been followed, and everything that happened after that has really just been to make up for the fact that they haven’t done the proper things like a BEC or BAC,” Sukdev told Mail & Guardian.
Further, affected bidders are seeking a supplementary affidavit from the department, asserting that it does not have the documents. Costs are reserved in the main litigation. If the affidavit is not supplied or fails to satisfy the court, the department could face a contempt of court order.
In their letter to Lesufi, the bidders detail what they call substantial irregularities. They say that despite repeated promised corrections of allocations — first in June, then September, and again deferred to October — no meaningful remedy has been implemented.
They allege that “preferred” bidders have been given disproportionately large allocations, while others who met requirements have been under-allocated; some routes assigned are “operationally unviable”.
They further claim that having a single individual as a director in three companies currently contracted under the nutrition programme raises conflicts of interest, especially because one of these is Mbembest Industries, which they allege enjoys political protection.
An earlier, related dispute emerged in April 2025. On 25 February, 49 companies were announced as awardees of the contract to supply perishable and dry goods under the programme in Gauteng, in a contract running from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2028.
Unsuccessful bidders challenged the list, asserting that some of the awarded companies were not compliant with tax laws, were deregistered, or did not appear on the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission database.
The challenge also alleged ties between some successful bidders and politically connected individuals.
Further, in August 2025, reports note that the Gauteng’s education MEC, Matome Chiloane, and the head of department are at risk of being declared in contempt of court.
Umnothowethu Trading Enterprise, an unsuccessful bidder, has taken action in the high court demanding that they produce documents as ordered by Judge Brad Wanless on 13 May. These include a confidential, redacted version of all bid submissions, as well as all minutes, evaluation and adjudication records, service level agreements, and criteria for allocations. Umnothowethu says the court gave 20 days to comply, but the department has not done so.
An audit was also ordered in May by the auditor general or by internal authorities (as per bidders’ claims) to review the tender process. Bidders say no feedback or reports have been supplied to date.
Concerns raised by service providers include: delays in feeding learners when contracts lapse; learners in some schools being left without meals because new contracts had not yet been finalised; and allegations of non-compliance, deregistration, or even non-existence of some awarded companies.
In April 2025, the department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, acknowledged there had been delays by some service providers in delivering to certain schools but said that by 11 April, all schools had received their stock.
On the irregularities regarding bidders’ status or the fairness of the allocation process, the department said it could not comment fully on matters pending in court.
The current legal demand is that the department immediately release all bid evaluation and adjudication records as ordered by the court; that there be an independent investigation into how the awards and routes (allocations) were made; and transparency from the premier’s office regarding potential conflicts of interest, especially involving Mbembest Industries or its directors.
Sukdev said the department has been ordered to submit the supplementary affidavit about the non-existence of the bid adjudication documents.
For the 2024-25 academic year, the department allocated R9.798 billion to the programme in all provinces, a 5.6% increase from the previous year’s allocation of R9.279 billion.
This funding is part of the department’s overall budget of R32.3 billion for the 2024-25 financial year, which represents a 7.4% increase from the 2023-24 allocation.
Child malnutrition is on the rise, according to an annual review of child development produced by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town and Ilifa Labantwana. From 2020 to 2023, cases of severe acute malnutrition increased by 33%, with 15 000 children having to be admitted to hospital in 2022-23 alone.
The report found that about 58% of children aged 14 and younger receive social grants, primarily through the child support grant. But the youngest children, especially infants, are most likely to be excluded from the grant because of delays in registering them after birth.
The report highlighted the urgent need for an increase in the value of the child support grant, currently R530 a month, to align with the cost of a thrifty healthy basket of R945.
“Due to the size of the grant relative to the cost of ensuring child nutrition, and competing demands on the grant from other household needs such as housing and clothing, the grants are not enough to alleviate food insecurity,” it said.