CTP Limited & others v The Director-General Department of Basic Education & others

The Department of Basic Education awarded a tender for the printing, packaging and distribution of workbooks to public schools for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020, with an option of a two‑year extension, to the Lebone Consortium. CTP Limited and others, as competing bidders, challenged the award. The Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, upheld the validity of the award. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, the focus was on the Bid Evaluation Committee’s (BEC) use of a consensus‑seeking approach in evaluating bids, particularly its reconsideration of CTP JV’s functionality score after it had initially passed, without applying the same approach to Lebone Consortium, and the subsequent disqualification of CTP JV.

The appeal was upheld. The decision to award the tender to Lebone Consortium was declared constitutionally invalid and unlawful. However, the declaration of invalidity was suspended until 31 March 2020 to avoid disruption to teaching and learning in public schools.

The case is significant for South African public procurement law as it reinforces that even well‑intentioned consensus‑based evaluation methods must comply strictly with procedural fairness and equal treatment of bidders. It affirms the constitutional procurement principles in s 217 and demonstrates the courts’ willingness to suspend declarations of invalidity to protect the public interest, particularly where learners’ rights are implicated.