Parliament must probe he University of Limpopo's tender process after reports that two men associated with the Friends of the Youth League (FYL) benefited from lucrative contracts, the DA said.

Democratic Alliance higher education spokeswoman Annelie Lotriet said in a statement she would write to Motswane Ishmael Malale, chairman of the portfolio committee to ask for an investigation.

The university council, including the vice-chancellor Nehemiah Mokgalong and marketing director Kgalema Mohuba, needed to explain how the tenders were awarded.

On Friday, the Mail & Guardian reported that the university awarded tenders to two allies of expelled ANCYL president Julius Malema last year.

Collins Foromo, who was previously Malema's driver, was awarded a R27.8 million tender for the conversion of a gymnasium into a laboratory.

A company owned by FYL founder Mandla Seopela was awarded a contract for a three-year lease for dining facilities. The value of the tender could not be confirmed.

Questions have been raised about who funds the FYL, an organisation which was formed after Malema was expelled.

Lotriet said an investigation was necessary, particularly in light of the fact that the university might be indirectly supporting Malema's "social destabilisation campaign".

"... [Given] questions raised about the sources of funding for [Malema's] current national campaign to spread labour protests around South African mines, the sources of funding for the FYL warrants careful scrutiny.

"Malema’s war-chest cannot be filled at the expense of the South African public," she said.

Trade union Solidarity filed criminal charges of incitement to violence and intimidation against Malema earlier this month, following comments he made to striking mines urging them to make the mines "ungovernable".