The fight over the KwaZulu-Natal R2.9 billion school nutrition tender is now heading to the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

This comes after aggrieved bidders who lost out want the court to interdict the Provincial Department of Education from awarding tenders in some districts until all the appeals currently being held by the Provincial Treasury are heard and ruled upon.

They allege that they had to rush to court after they got unsatisfactory answers from the Department of Education and the Provincial Treasury when they enquired about the appeals process.

The applicants in the case allege that they have learnt that the Sipho Hlomuka-led department intends to unilaterally award the tenders in Umlazi, Pinetown, Amajuba, Zululand, Uthukela and other districts despite the fact that the appeals have not been concluded.

They told the court that the bidding process in which they lost out was tainted by allegations of corruption and nepotism.

Citing one instance, they alleged that Hlomuka’s mother, who lives in Ladysmith, has a company called Aphigugu Trading, and it scored tenders in the scheme. They also cited the widely reported case of a polygamist, former leader of the ANC Youth League in the province, whose two wives scored tenders using their construction companies.

Furthermore, they alleged that in some instances, tenders were awarded to companies that did not even exist when the bid was advertised by the department, meaning supply chain management policies were brazenly violated.

The applicants want the matter to be heard on an urgent basis, saying that should the process not be halted, they will suffer irreparable harm.

The spokesperson of the department, Muzi Mahlambi, had not commented on whether or not the department would oppose the application at the time this publication was compiled.