The Steenkamp Case
2006
Steenkamp NO v Provincial Tender Board of the Eastern Cape
Out-of-pocket expenses
This case dealt with whether someone who had incurred considerable expense in successfully tendering for a governmental contract, could claim private law damages from the government for the expenses incurred when the contract was eventually set aside because of misconduct on the part of the government. For different reasons, all the judges expressed a reluctance to use private law remedies to provide compensation for public administration default. Justice Sachs held that compensation could have been asked for under the express provisions of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) in the final Constitution, or under public law remedies implicit in the interim Constitution.
