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Judge Lebogang Modiba, who is presiding over a Special Court hearing, issued an injunction on Friday to halt implementation of the Eastern Cape health department’s 10 million rand scooter tender pending a request from the Special Investigation Unit for the tender to be reviewed and canceled.
In a Special Court session this morning, attorney Selby Makgotho said they had received no documents from either Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, General Superintendent Thobile Mbengashe, or the department’s chief financial officer, Msulwa Daca. However, in their correspondence with him they indicated that they did not oppose the granting of an injunction.
It said the winning contractor, Fabkomp, initially filed a notice to oppose the request, but subsequently withdrew its opposition.
In May this year, Fabkomp was awarded a 10 million rand contract to build mobile clinics for the Eastern Cape health department. According to a document released by the provincial treasury, the contract would be financed with money destined for the provincial response to Covid-19.
Later it became known that the project would only be implemented in the next few years.
At the launch of the scooters, attended by Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhizen, the department took Mkhize for a ride in the wrong vehicle. These vehicles were ambulances that were destined for Kenya.
Mkhize later said that the ambulance scooters did not meet the standards set for emergency vehicles. The Eastern Cape health department then backed off, saying they had “shown the minister the wrong vehicle”, and claimed they wanted to show him “what was possible.”
Following a public outcry over the scooters, the department, according to the SIU, issued a new contract for “modified scooters” after they began an investigation.
The Special Court, chaired by Judge Gidfonia Mlindelwa Makhanya, was established to recover public funds lost to corruption, fraud, and illicit money flows.
The chairman of the health committee in the Eastern Cape legislature, Mxolisi Dimaza, said they have completed their report on the tender, with input from the provincial treasury and the transportation department, and will present it at the next chamber session.
Jane Cowley of the Democratic Alliance said serious questions have been asked about how the tender originated and whether buying the scooters is value for money.
“But the most worrying thing is that the health department signed the contract in the first place, since all acquisitions of medical fleets in the province are managed through the transportation department.
“This is just one of a litany of missteps committed by the MEC during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been considered one of the worst health crises the province has faced.
“The district attorney has repeatedly called on Prime Minister Oscar Mabuyane to remove both the MEC and the department head. We are confident that the Special Court will get to the bottom of this mess and that those responsible must be held accountable, ”Cowley said.
The department did not respond to a request for comment.
Makgotho said that while neither party opposed the injunction, all have indicated that they will present their case during the SIU’s request for the tender to be reviewed and voided.
He said they received a formal commitment that the “modifications” to the scooters, which the department requested under the new contract, would not be carried out. DM / MC
