Logistics company under fire over R7.2 billion irregular contract for textbooks and stationery

Bongani Rainmaker Logistics and state officials are under fire over an irregular R7.2 billion contract for textbooks and stationery.

Bongani Rainmaker Logistics is a South African integrated logistics and project management company.

It handles large-scale public- and private-sector projects, including textbook and stationery distribution for education departments.

The company is now under the spotlight over a textbook and stationery contract from the Gauteng Department of Education.

Gauteng Provincial Legislature member, Michael Waters, has asked the Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, to hold officials accountable for the irregular contract.

Waters explained 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, specifically the evaluation of the successful bidder against the minimum personnel requirements.

“While concerning, these revelations are not surprising. The DA raised concerns about this contract months ago in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature,” he said.

“We also raised it through formal correspondence with the Auditor-General (AG) and the National Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana.”

In April 2026, Waters asked the AG to investigate Bongani Rainmaker Logistics contracts since 2019.

He cited concerns over procurement compliance, value for money, and financial control related to the contracts.

“In May, we alerted the AG to over R1.523 billion in Learner Teacher Support Material expenditure still under assessment, with no finalisation timeline.”

“The recent findings validate our previous concerns and raise questions about what happened to the earlier investigation.”

“There are also questions as to why the contract continued despite compliance concerns, and whether officials were ever held accountable.”

Waters said that 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,” he said.

“Irregular expenditure does not automatically mean money was stolen or lost. However, procurement failures involving billions demand transparency and accountability.”

This, he said, was important because Gauteng schools face mounting financial pressure on essential services.