Gwarube urges Treasury probe into questionable R285m textbook tender

A Suspicious Bid Slips Past Safeguards

On 14 May 2024, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube dispatched an urgent letter to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. She asked National Treasury to launch a full forensic investigation into a R285 million contract that will deliver Grade 1–3 workbooks and readers for the 2025 school year. The request follows revelations that one of the successful bidders, Ubhuti Bathu Publishing (Pty) Ltd, only appeared on the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) register on 18 March 2024 - three business days after the Department of Basic Education (DBE) published the detailed tender specifications on 15 March.

Ubhuti Bathu captured 26.3 % of the overall deal, a slice worth about R75 million that will touch 3.6 million foundation-phase learners. Treasury’s Procurement Office has confirmed receipt of the minister’s letter and flagged the matter for fast-track attention under regulation 16A9.2 of the Public Finance Management Act. A joint task team drawn from the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Auditor-General will begin field investigations next week.

This textbook tender is the single biggest foundation-phase procurement exercise undertaken by the DBE since the 2012 Limpopo books crisis. It covers learner support materials in all eleven official languages, 5 000 big picture books for rural schools, 42 000 braille packs and 1.2 million Afrikaans readers that were recalled last year due to translation errors. Because the sector has a long history of collusion - most notoriously the 2014 “cartel” findings by the Competition Commission that saw publishers pay R177 million in administrative penalties - Treasury inserted a clause in the 2024 bid papers that bars any firm that did not exist when the specifications were gazetted. That clause, tucked away on page 217 of the 312-page document, aims to stop overnight companies from grabbing state work. How Ubhuti Bathu cleared that hurdle is the first mystery investigators intend to solve.

Deal-Breaking Red Flags Pile Up

CIPC filings reveal Ubhuti Bathu started life with a standard memorandum of incorporation, one director - 30-year-old Mbali Nxumalo - and a declared share capital of R1 000. The company lists its registered address as 412 Lillian Ngoyi Street, Pretoria - the same building that houses Mngomezulu Attorneys, a law firm that has represented four former DBE officials in labour disputes. Eight days after incorporation, the firm submitted a bid stuffed with ISO 9001 quality certificates dated 2020, a B-BBEE level-1 affidavit and print quotations from a Durban plant owned by CTP Limited. The proposal claimed access to 55 000 tonnes of 80 gsm bulky book paper, warehousing in City Deep and a national distribution fleet outsourced to Imperial Logistics. Evaluators scored the submission 98/100 for functionality - highest among 18 competitors. Yet Imperial’s freight-forwarders told News24 no contract exists with Ubhuti Bathu, while CTP’s compliance officer says the letterhead used in the bid “doesn’t match our 2024 template.”

The evaluation panel itself has drawn suspicion. Minutes released under a Promotion of Access to Information Act request show that two of the five evaluators declared “previous professional dealings” with Mngomezulu Attorneys yet were not recused. One panellist, a deputy director responsible for “pedagogical suitability”, successfully pushed for the language-specific readers to be split into three lots - a last-minute tweak that cracked the door for smaller players. Ubhuti Bathu walked off with Lots 2 (isiXhosa and isiZulu) and 4 (Sepedi and Setswana), exactly the lots reshaped by the late change. A data-analytics scan by civil-society watchdog Corruption Watch shows Ubhuti Bathu’s unit price is 38 % above the median bid, implying an immediate R28 million price premium.

ActionSA’s Parliamentary Chief Whip, Lerato Ngobeni, has written to the portfolio committee demanding the DBE freeze all contract signatures until the probe concludes. Ngobeni notes the same postal code used by Ubhuti Bathu appears on the 2021 bid papers of a company blacklisted for supplying “ghost” textbooks to the Eastern Cape. “The recycling of addresses is a textbook red flag for bid-rigging rings,” Ngobeni told reporters outside Parliament. DA shadow minister Baxolile Nodada has gone further, accusing the department of “textbook capture” and urging the SIU to extend its investigation to the R1.8 billion annual workbook contract run by the same DBE branch.

“This is systemic rot that goes well beyond one suspect company,” Nodada declared.

Industry Fury and Provincial Chaos

Long-standing publishers are livid. Pearson South Africa, Oxford University Press and Shuter & Shooter have filed a formal complaint with the Public Protector, arguing that the evaluation handed out “phantom points” for black-women ownership while ignoring proven production capacity. A senior industry insider said printing plants now sit idle and retrenchment notices are flying because “brief-case intermediaries” pocket contracts they cannot fulfil. The South African Book Development Council calculates that 2 400 print jobs have already vanished in Durban and Cape Town since January as state work shifts to paper-only companies.

The crisis couldn the DBE’s catalogue overhaul. Since 2022 the department has tried to wean schools off costly commercial titles and onto state-owned open-licence workbooks. Championed by former minister Angie Motshekga, the switch aimed to save R600 million yearly and enable print-on-demand runs at provincial plants. Yet the 2024 catalogue has been postponed twice, leaving many schools stuck with 2023 editions still advising pupils about Covid-19 “bubbles” and social-distancing floor stickers. Teacher unions warn that the latest scandal will shred confidence in the catalogue and drive wealthier schools back to private publishers whose prices track the dollar.

Provinces are bracing for gridlock. KwaZulu-Natal has 1 983 schools reachable only by gravel road; Limpopo lists 357 “mud schools” with no proper storage. A senior Gauteng education official revealed provincial warehouses must receive stock by 30 September so distribution can finish before the December break. Any delay forced by the Treasury probe could “derail the entire 2025 academic calendar,” the official conceded. Northern Cape has already triggered an emergency clause enabling it to source backup stock from provincial printers if the national contract stalls.

Legal Fallout and Future Safeguards

Separately, the SIU is pursuing civil-recovery litigation tied to the 2020–2022 workbook chaos in which R430 million was paid for delivery of only 37 % of ordered books. Court papers filed in the Pretoria High Court show one previously implicated director is a cousin of Mbali Nxumalo, Ubhuti Bathu’s sole director. Investigators are therefore probing whether the new outfit is a “phoenix” created to dodge Treasury blacklists. Should evidence emerge, the SIU will seek an interdict under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act to freeze bank accounts and seize assets.

Globally, textbook scandals have unseated governments. In 2015, Guatemalan president Otto Pérez Molina stepped down after a customs bribery ring that included over-invoiced school books. In the Philippines, three education officials received life sentences in 2018 for their part in a “textbook mafia.” South Africa is still litigating the 2012 Limpopo debacle, in which the Constitutional Court ruled that the state violated the right to basic education by failing to deliver books on time. Legal scholars argue that the latest allegations could trigger a fresh structural interdict compelling the creation of an independent procurement authority for learning materials.

For now the DBE has frozen publication of supplier names on its national portal and directed provinces not to sign any delivery notes. Publishers, printers, unions and civil-society groups have until 7 June to submit evidence to Treasury. The minister has also asked the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to pilot a blockchain system that embeds QR codes in every workbook, allowing parents to verify in real time whether the book in their child’s satchel was printed by the contracted supplier. Whether these measures will spare yet another cohort of foundation-phase learners fromx months will depend on how swiftly and thoroughly the investigation behind National Treasury’s bronze doors unfolds.

What is the R285 million workbook deal controversy about?

The controversy revolves around a R285 million contract for Grade 1-3 workbooks and readers for the 2025 school year, awarded to Ubhuti Bathu Publishing (Pty) Ltd. This company was registered only three days after the tender specifications were released, raising significant suspicions of bid-rigging and lack of transparency. The Minister of Basic Education has requested a full forensic investigation into the matter.

Who is Ubhuti Bathu Publishing and why is their contract suspicious?

Ubhuti Bathu Publishing (Pty) Ltd is a newly formed company that was registered on March 18, 2024, just three business days after the Department of Basic Education (DBE) published the detailed tender specifications on March 15, 2024. Despite its newness, the company secured 26.3% of the overall deal, valued at approximately R75 million. Further suspicions arise from its CIPC filings, which show a single director, Mbali Nxumalo, and a low declared share capital. Their bid also contained questionable elements, such as ISO 9001 certificates dated 2020 and print quotations that do not match the supplier's current templates, while claims of logistics partnerships have been denied by the supposed partners. Furthermore, the company's unit price is 38% above the median bid, implying a significant price premium.

What immediate actions have been taken regarding the suspicious deal?

Minister Siviwe Gwarube sent an urgent letter to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, requesting a full forensic investigation by the National Treasury. A joint task team comprising members from the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), and the Auditor-General will conduct field investigations. Additionally, ActionSA's Parliamentary Chief Whip, Lerato Ngobeni, has demanded that the DBE freeze all contract signatures until the probe concludes. The DBE has also frozen the publication of supplier names and directed provinces not to sign any delivery notes.

What are the potential consequences if this deal is indeed found to be fraudulent?

If the deal is found to be fraudulent, it could lead to significant legal fallout, including civil-recovery litigation, freezing of bank accounts, and seizure of assets under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The SIU is already investigating potential links to previous workbook scandals and the possibility that Ubhuti Bathu is a "phoenix" company. Beyond legal repercussions, such a scandal could severely disrupt the 2025 academic calendar if textbook deliveries are delayed, and further erode public trust in the education system, potentially necessitating the creation of an independent procurement authority for learning materials.

How does this incident relate to past issues in the South African education sector?

This incident echoes past controversies in the South African education sector, including the 2012 Limpopo books crisis, where the state failed to deliver books on time, violating the right to basic education. It also brings to mind the 2014 Competition Commission findings of a "cartel" among publishers, resulting in R177 million in administrative penalties. The current tender included a clause specifically designed to prevent