TMT Services & Supplies (Pty) Ltd t/a Traffic Management Technologies v MEC: Department of Transport, Province of KwaZulu-Natal and Others

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport published a tender for an integrated traffic contravention management system. TMT Services & Supplies (Pty) Ltd (TMT), domiciled and ordinarily resident in Cape Town, submitted a bid but was excluded early in the process. The tender was ultimately awarded to MTM KZN Traffix (Pty) Ltd. After an earlier review application by another bidder was withdrawn, TMT launched a review application under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 (PAJA) in the Western Cape Division of the High Court. The respondents raised a point in limine that the Western Cape High Court lacked jurisdiction. Although the High Court accepted that it technically had jurisdiction, it declined to exercise it and dismissed the application. TMT appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was upheld with costs. The order of the Western Cape High Court was set aside and replaced with an order dismissing the point in limine that the court lacked jurisdiction, with costs. The matter was remitted to the High Court for determination of the review application on the merits.

This judgment authoritatively clarifies that jurisdiction for judicial review under PAJA is governed solely by the statutory definition of a 'court' in section 1 of PAJA. It confirms the wide territorial reach of High Court jurisdiction in administrative-law reviews, strengthens access to courts under sections 33 and 34 of the Constitution, and rejects attempts to restrict PAJA jurisdiction by importing general jurisdictional principles from the Superior Courts Act. The case is significant for procurement and administrative-law litigation involving national or provincial authorities.