The Special Tribunal has reserved its judgment on an application by Beitbridge border fence contractors for leave to appeal a ruling ordering the companies to repay the profits they made from the controversial project.

On Thursday, lawyers for Magwa Construction and Profteam CC argued in the Special Tribunal how the March judgment negatively impacted their clients' business operations.

Advocate Gideon Scheepers SC, for Magwa Construction, submitted that the company would not have known about the purported flouting of National Treasury regulations.

Scheepers argued the Special Tribunal erred in not considering the evidence on affidavits and emphasised that there was undisputed evidence from experts that the Department of Public Works was fully aware of the developments at Beitbridge.

He told Special Tribunal Judge Lebogang Modiba, that Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille and senior management received daily reports from the disputed project.

"We submit that another court will come to a different outcome. There were a lot of side issues and the undisputed evidence, and if the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure made its mistakes, the contractors need not suffer the consequences for such," he said.

Modiba pointed out that the purpose of a just and equitable remedy was to correct an offence in accordance with the Constitution.

"How do we then correct this offence? We are dealing with a party which got the tender under irregular circumstances. If the process was transparent and fair, would Caledon have received the contract?" she asked.

Advocate Etienne Theron SC, for Profteam, told the Special Tribunal their application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal should be granted.

He said there were conflicting judgments, and that another court may come to a different finding.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) took Magwa Construction and Profteam CC to court in a bid to recover money from the R40-million Beitbridge border fence project.

In March, the Special Tribunal ordered the companies to repay all profits made from the botched project.

The SIU and Department of Public Works and Infrastructure were ordered to appoint a qualified expert to compile a report as to the reasonableness of the two companies' expenses, and file it with the Special Tribunal.

The Special Tribunal ordered the companies to pay back profits earned within 30 days of submitting the income and expenditure report.

The fence that had been delivered to the department was easily scalable, poorly built and of low quality.

The SIU's investigation uncovered several irregularities, including the pre-payment, after which the department was interdicted, prohibited and restrained by the Special Tribunal from making further payments pending the conclusion of the civil case.

The R40.4-million contracts were reviewed and set aside by agreement between the parties.