South Africa found nearly R70bn in spending through contract extensions — TimesLIVE
In South Africa, government departments and state-owned companies directed nearly R70 billion to service providers through expansions and extensions of existing contracts, often without new competitive tenders. This was reported by TimesLIVE following an analysis of records submitted to the National Treasury. From October 2023 to March 2026, officials expanded or amended contracts beyond their initially approved limits approximately 3,000 times.
A contract expansion allows work and funding to be added for an existing contractor without holding a new tender. The publication notes that this procedure is intended for exceptional cases, but it was regularly used as an alternative to competitive procurement. Nearly 60 contracts were increased by more than ten times their original value.
The largest amounts went to Eskom
The largest number of such approvals was recorded at the energy company Eskom: more than 850 worth about R41 billion, or nearly 60% of the total amount. In particular, an engineering and project contract for the Medupi and Kusile power stations, concluded in 2006 for R114 million, grew to approximately R2.5 billion. In June 2025, another R437 million was added to it.
At the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), 36 extensions of road routine maintenance contracts worth R758 million were approved on October 28, 2024. Of these, 17 contracts held by Vea Road Maintenance and Civils were increased by R454 million. Overall, the value of its road maintenance contracts was increased 18 times, adding R520 million. On one section of the N14 highway, a contract initially worth R27 million increased by a further R62 million.
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Contracts were extended after their expiry as well
The investigation found nearly 30 cases in which contracts were expanded, extended or received additional funding after their validity period had already ended. Treasury rules stipulate that this should be done before a contract expires; otherwise, subsequent spending may be deemed irregular. Geo Quinot, a professor of public law at Stellenbosch University, said that expanding expired contracts is unlawful.
The Treasury said there is no upper limit for contract expansions, while benchmarks of 15% or R15 million, and for construction 20% or R20 million, are used only for reporting. At the same time, the Treasury does not assess the justification for such changes, as the authority to approve them belongs to the institutions themselves. The most common explanation from officials was unfinished tenders, bid evaluations or delays in concluding new contracts.
Vea said that all its original contracts had been won through open tenders, while extensions and additional budgets were initiated and administered by its clients. Sanral said that extensions of long-term projects were linked to the complexity of multi-year work, inflation and construction delays, and that all decisions underwent approval procedures.
