In its December 2015 decision in Cape Book and College Supplies t/a University Bookshop v. Northlink TVET College, the High Court of South Africa granted a substitute order and directed that a college bookstore contract be awarded to the complainant since the original contract was improperly awarded to a noncompliant bidder. While the court expressed reluctance in granting a substitute order that replaced the public institution’s evaluation decision with its own decision, it found that in the circumstances that remedy was appropriate, given that the original contract to the non-complaint bidder was invalid and the complainant had submitted the best compliant bid.
