Bigen Africa Services v City of Cape Town: Audit Culture and State Self-Review in the Water and Sanitation Sector

Abstract

In Bigen Africa Services (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town (WC) (unreported) case number 18681/2020 of 1 June 2021, the Western Cape High Court found that the inclusion of a local office as a pre-qualification criterion in tenders for professional water and sanitation services fell afoul of section 217(1) of the Constitution. This provision requires all organs of State to contract for goods or services in accordance with a system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. The court's reasoning on this point can be critiqued on the basis that it conflated distinct tests for determining the materiality of a deviation. However, the case raises broader concerns around the pre-eminence of audit over operational logic in the water and sanitation sector, and the use of state self-review to resolve the conflict.