Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi faces urgent questions in Parliament after two companies holding major government contracts to supply HIV medicines entered business rescue. The concern is immediate and practical. Any disruption to antiretroviral (ARV) supply can lead to missed doses. That raises the risk of treatment failure and drug resistance.
South Africa carries the world’s biggest HIV burden. An estimated 8 million people live with HIV. The country also buys about a fifth of the world’s ARV medicines. Treasury documents show that about 5.6 million patients were on HIV treatment by the end of September.
The current AIDS drug tender runs for three years and carries a value of approximately R15.5bn. The largest portion covers the three-in-one regimen that most patients use.
What Happened With The TLD Contracts
The core contracts cover monthly and three-monthly packs of TLD. TLD contains tenofovir, lamivudine and dolutegravir. These contracts are the biggest by volume and value. They are estimated at R12.6bn.
Barrs and Innovata secured a significant share of the TLD (Tenofovir, Lamivudine, and Dolutegravir) supply. Together, they won 28.76% of the contract for three-month packs and 24.49% for monthly packs. However, reports indicate that neither company notified the Department of Health when they entered business rescue on 9 December—just nine days after the tender period opened.
That timing has intensified concerns about the tender process and raised questions about the checks the department conducted before confirming the awards.
HIV ARV Tender Crisis Drives Calls For Accountability
Faith Muthambi, chair of Parliament’s portfolio committee on health, said the minister must explain how this situation arose and what it means for patients. She has stressed the urgency and said the committee cannot allow patients to default on treatment.
Michele Clark of the Democratic Alliance has also pressed for answers. She demands clarity on the due diligence the department performed on the winning bidders. Furthermore, she questions why the state excluded "very reputable" companies like Cipla and Adcock Ingram. She also notes the exclusion of Sun Pharmaceuticals (formerly Sisonke), despite its history of supplying TLD to the government.
How the HIV ARV Tender Crisis Could Affect Patients
The Department of Health has sought to reassure the public, stating that it sees no imminent risk of medication shortages. It maintains that provincial health departments hold enough stock to cover three months of demand. Furthermore, the department emphasises that it distributes contracts among multiple suppliers to prevent a single failure from causing widespread disruption.
Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said uninterrupted access to life-saving HIV treatment remains a national priority. He said measures are in place to ensure patients continue to receive their medicines without disruption.
The tender was shared across several suppliers. These include Aspen, Emcure, Innovata, Barrs, MacLeods, Viatris and Aurobindo for both monthly and three-monthly packs. Pharma Dynamics received only a share of the monthly pack contract.
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