At the high noon of Covid-19, Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane issued a practice directive on cases relating to public tenders. The directive, which was issued in accordance with High Court Rules, is prefaced with an explanation that cases relating to public tenders were taking “inordinately long to be resolved” and that such situation led to ‘delays in project implementation and infrastructure development‚ cost overruns and
associated hardship.’ On the basis of the latter, Rannowane directed that cases relating to public tenders “must be treated as urgent applications and must be given expedited management, set downs, disposal and that they be prioritised and removed from the normal track of other cases.” The directive took effect on February 8, 2021.
While this directive was never rescinded, the state believed otherwise and made that argument before Justice Boipuso Makhwe in an urgent application case in which it is a litigant in.
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