Gauteng High Court

The principle established in the Gauteng High Court case of Truth Verification by Eloff AJ states that a witness making fanciful or patently false affidavits should have those affidavits rejected without oral testimony; the Chairperson suggests this principle applies to applicants and respondents alike.

“the principle enunciated in that case was later made or adopted by the Supreme Court... if what a witness says is either fanciful or patently false, it should be rejected out of hand and on paper without the need for oral testimony... I do not see why it cannot apply to applicants as well.”

Due to irregularities in the bid evaluation process and missing tender documents, the bid was cancelled and re-evaluated. However, bidder Lebelelang Mahlatse Trading (Pty) Ltd challenged the cancellation in Gauteng High Court, which ruled on 24 May 2018 that the tender may not be cancelled but must be re-evaluated fresh, and extended the tender's validity by 90 days.

“The decision was made at the Bid Adjudication that this tender be cancelled and start afresh because of irregularities... However, one of the bidders, Lebelelang Mahlatse Trading (Pty) Ltd, they approached the High Court in Gauteng with a case number of 32325/2017, and Justice Fabricius on 24 May 2018 directed that this tender may not be cancelled, it must be re-evaluated afresh, and the same order of Justice Fabricius also extended the validity of this procurement process by another 90 days.”