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Another victory for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), handed down by its Special Tribunal. It involves a R257-million contract for personal protective equipment (PPE) entered into by the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) and a company called Nkhane Projects and Supply during the Covid-19 pandemic that rocked the country four years ago.
The tribunal has ruled the contract invalid, setting it aside. One of the reasons was that Nkhane did not win its contract through a competitive bidding process but approached the GDoH unsolicited. The company must now submit audited statements within 30 days of the judgment, which was on 5 August. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago is quoted by News24: “These statements must be supported by expert reports. Additionally, Nkhane is required to pay the SIU’s costs for the application, including the costs for two counsel where applicable.”
The SIU investigated corruption that emerged in government’s massive PPE procurement campaign as it responded to the pandemic. A number of state institutions rolled out procurement projects for the essential materials from as early on as 2020, when the country experienced its first lockdown. President Cyril Ramaphosa directed the SIU, under Proclamation R23 of 2020, to investigate allegations of corruption, maladministration, malpractice, and payments made by state institutions concerning PPE procurement and the conduct of state employees, said the SIU in a statement.
Room for corruption
The relaxation of the public service’s procurement protocols at the time raised several concerns, particularly from the civil society sector, as there appeared to be little or no stringent monitoring of tenders advertised for urgent services required at the time. Besides the SIU, other institutions such as the Auditor-General were brought on board to tally up the spending that was being done across the national and provincial institutions embarking on this unprecedented procurement drive.
The GDoH was found to have been among the institutions that carried out dubious processes with private suppliers, resulting in both internal investigations as well as the SIU probe. The then MEC of health, Bandile Masuku, was removed from his role in October 2020 following an investigation into his possible conflict of interest in another PPE contract awarded earlier that year to Royal Bhaca, a company owned by Thandisizwe Diko, the now late king of Amabhaca. Diko was married to the then presidential spokesperson, Khusela Diko, who was also placed on special leave by Ramaphosa in response to the news reports on the matter. She was later redeployed to another role in government. Masuku took an SIU report that led to his removal on review in the Gauteng High Court but was unsuccessful. He is now a member of the Gauteng Legislature, and chairperson of its portfolio committee on community safety.
The tribunal’s finding on the Nkhane contract comes about during a Gauteng High Court application by Nkhane, which demanded a R89-million payment from the GDoH, which the company claims is due to it. However, the SIU says it will not be getting this, or any other amount, from government.
“This judgment is expected to bring to an end to the High Court case where Nkhane demanded payment of R89 350 280.10 from the GDoH. This amount includes R60 863 045.90 for goods already delivered but not yet paid for by the GDoH, and R28 487 234.20 for goods ordered by the GDoH but which the department is refusing to accept delivery of. The High Court case was formally stayed by the SIU pending the finalisation of the Tribunal case,” the statement said.
