- AIDS Foundation South Africa tried to recover R2.52 million from Show Me Your Number NPC over disputed spending tied to a Global Fund-backed vaccine awareness programme.
- The foundation alleged that money meant for outside technical experts was instead used to pay staff.
- Judge President Poyo Dlwati dismissed the application for review, finding there was no basis to overturn the arbitration award.
AIDS Foundation South Africa has failed in its attempt to recover R2.52 million from Show Me Your Number NPC, relating to disputed payments made during a vaccine awareness programme funded by the Global Fund.
The High Court in Durban dismissed the foundation’s application to overturn an arbitration award that had rejected its claim against the organisation. The dispute centred on whether Show Me Your Number had wrongly used money intended for outside professional services to pay its own employees.
Dispute over vaccine programme funding
AIDS Foundation South Africa appointed Show Me Your Number NPC as a sub-recipient to carry out an HIV programme using funding from the Global Fund, which supports health projects in low- and middle-income countries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme was expanded to include a Vaccine Awareness Programme (VAP). The dispute came up during the second phase of the programme, which ran from April 2022 to December 2023.
The foundation claimed that Show Me Your Number used R2 522 716.25 set aside for technical assistance to pay staff, rather than hiring external professionals through the required procurement process. The technical assistance budget was meant to pay for individuals or organisations with specialist skills to support the programme.
According to the foundation, the funding conditions were part of the agreement between the organisations and required strict compliance. It argued that not following procurement rules could mean the Global Fund would ask for the money back. Show Me Your Number denied the claim.
Arbitrator rejects repayment claim
The dispute went to arbitration before Paul Schumann, who dismissed the foundation’s claim in an award in July 2025.
Schumann found that the second phase of the programme started before the necessary contracts and budgets were finalised. An addendum to the agreement was only signed in June 2023, about six months before the programme ended.
He also found that AIDS Foundation South Africa knew about the payments to the technical assistance team for about 21 months but failed to provide proper oversight. The arbitrator questioned how the foundation allowed the payments to continue for so long if it thought they were improper.
He also found that all programme milestones were met, and there was no claim of misused funds. The Global Fund had not demanded repayment from the foundation. The foundation was ordered to pay Show Me Your Number’s legal costs.
High Court refuses to overturn award
AIDS Foundation South Africa went to the High Court in Durban to try to have the arbitration award set aside. It argued that Schumann failed to properly consider the contractual obligations between the organisations and overlooked evidence that procurement procedures were not followed.
The foundation also complained that the arbitrator focused on the interests of the employees who received payments instead of on whether the money was spent according to the agreement. Show Me Your Number opposed the review, saying the arbitrator had considered the evidence correctly and that the foundation was simply trying to reopen a dispute that had already been settled.
In a judgment handed down on 11 November 2026, Judge President Poyo Dlwati first considered the foundation’s request for condonation because it missed the six-week deadline for bringing a review under section 33(2) of the Arbitration Act.
The application should have been filed by 5 September 2025, but was only launched on 2 October 2025. The foundation blamed the delay on consultations with its lawyers, the Global Fund, and its accountants, as well as problems finalising its founding affidavit.
However, Judge President Dlwati found that the explanation did not account for several periods of inactivity. She called it “superficial and unconvincing”. The judge also considered whether the arbitrator committed a gross irregularity that would justify setting aside the award.
She explained that an arbitrator making an incorrect finding does not automatically mean there is a reviewable irregularity. A party trying to overturn an arbitration award must show that the arbitrator failed to conduct the proper enquiry or denied them a fair hearing.
Judge President Dlwati found that Schumann had considered the relationship between the parties, the disputed budget, and the foundation’s failure to monitor spending.
She also rejected the idea that comments made by the arbitrator during the hearing proved he had not properly considered the dispute. Those comments were not part of his final award and did not show that either party was denied a fair hearing.
“His findings could be incorrect, but that does not amount to any irregularity,” the judge said. She concluded that the foundation had not shown reasonable prospects of success in its review application.
Both the request for condonation and the review application were dismissed, and AIDS Foundation South Africa was ordered to pay costs on Scale B.
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