BHISHO- The Democratic Alliance(DA) in the Eastern Cape has called for an investigation into nearly R4 Billion in contracts awarded by the Eastern Cape Department of Education(EC DoE) to a single company, arguing that the spending raises serious questions while thousands of qualifying learners remain without scholar transport.
DA Shadow MEC for Education, Horation Hendricks MPL said parliamentary replies from Education MEC Fundile Gade revealed that Khumzi Investments received travel and accommodation contracts valued at more than R3.4 billion over five financial years.
According to the information provided to the DA, the contracts increased steadily from R211.8 million in 2021/22 to R430 million in 2022/23, R685.7 million in 2023/24, R917 million in 2024/25, and R1.17 billion in 2025/26.
The parliamentary response further indicated that Khumzi Investments was awarded additional contracts worth R342.9 Million for Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM) and R194.3 Million for technical equipment during the same period. This brings the total value of contracts reflected in the Department’s to more than R3.95 Billion.
In his reply, MEC Gade stated that Khumzi Investments was one of four companies appointed through a competitive bidding process and that procurement procedures had been followed.
However, Hendricks argued that the scale of the contracts warrants closer scrutiny, particularly given the province’s ongoing scholar transport challenges.
“The Eastern Cape government must explain how one company secured contracts ì more than R3.95 billion from the Department of Education while qualifying learners continue to be told there is insufficient funding to transport them to school,” Hendricks said.
The DA announced that it will refer the contracts and related payment records to the Standing Committee of Public Accounts (SCOPA) for what it describes as a full financial and value-for-money investigation.
The party is also calling on the Premier and Provincial Treasury to review provincial spending on official travel and accommodation, with any savings redirected through the budget process towards scholar transport.
Supporting payment documentation supplied separately to the DA reportedly records 1,317 payment authorisations to Khumzi Investments amounting to R336.6 Million during 2025. This includes approximately R21.7 Million authorised between January and March and a further R314.9 Million between April and November.
Hendricks said SCOPA should determine whether the Department received value for money, reconcile contract values against actual payments, and establish whether payments were supported by goods or services delivered.
The issue comes against the backdrop of persistent concerns over scholar transport in the Eastern Cape, where thousands of learners particularly in rural communities remain without access to transport despite reportedly qualifying for the programme.
Scholar transport has long been regarded as essential for ensuring access to education for learners who live far from schools and have limited alternative means of travel.
At the time of publication, the Eastern Cape Department of Education had not publicly responded to the DA’s call for a SCOPA investigation beyond MEC Gade’s parliamentary response that the contracts were awarded through competitive procurement processes.
The matter is expected to attract further attention should SCOPA proceed with the requested investigation.
Sthabile Sambela
07 August 2026
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