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The Democratic Alliance (DA) urges Gauteng MEC for Education Lebogang Maile to hold officials accountable for a R7.2 billion irregular contract for textbooks and stationery awarded to Bongani Rainmaker Logistics.

A recent News24 report found that Gauteng accounted for R7.2 billion of the R20.7 billion in irregular expenditure across provincial education departments. The irregularity relates to procurement non-compliance, particularly the evaluation of the successful bidder against minimum personnel requirements in the tender specifications.

While concerning, these revelations are not surprising. The DA raised concerns about this contract months ago in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) and through formal correspondence with the Auditor-General (AG) and the National Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana.

In April 2026, the DA asked the AG to investigate Bongani Rainmaker Logistics contracts since 2019, citing concerns over procurement compliance, value for money, and financial control. In May, we alerted the AG to over R1.523 billion in Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) expenditure still under assessment, with no finalisation timeline and consequence management pending.

The recent findings validate our previous concerns and raise serious questions about what happened to the earlier investigation, why the contract continued despite compliance concerns, and whether officials were ever held accountable.

The DA will again write to the AG and Minister Godongwana seeking updates on our previous correspondence. We will also submit written questions to MEC Maile to ascertain the contract’s full history, annual payments, and details of any disciplinary proceedings, among others.

Irregular expenditure does not automatically mean money was stolen or lost. However, procurement failures involving billions of rand demand transparency and accountability. This is important because Gauteng schools face mounting financial pressure on essential services.

A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would focus on preventing financial irregularities through stronger oversight, transparent procurement, and accountability for proven wrongdoing, ensuring public funds are spent lawfully, efficiently and in the best interests of learners and schools.

Issued by DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Education Michael Waters