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The Democratic Alliance (DA) says that only 700 patients have been admitted to the Nasrec field hospital, since it opened in mid-June as a facility to quarantine and care for Covid-19 patients.
Citing a presentation made to the Gauteng Legislature Oversight Committee on the Office of the Prime Minister and Legislature (OCPOL), the Nasrec field hospital has admitted to date only 604 patients for quarantine and isolation, and 96 patients for care intermediates, including oxygen.
“The total bed capacity is 1,500, but there were only 25 patients as of August 28, 2020. The installation has cost around R350 million in total, which means R500,000 has been spent on each patient,” said Jack. Bloom from the district attorney.
“This is a colossal waste of money caused by poor judgment and probable corruption, as the people connected benefited from the big contracts.”
The Nasrec field hospital is still in operation.
The district attorney said the quarantined patients could have easily been housed in hotels and private hospitals could have been paid to treat the 96 patients requiring intermediate care.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a Covid-19 stimulus package of R500 billion in April, 10% of the national gross domestic product (GDP). The country’s Covid-19 efforts quickly became a wave of looting for connected cadres within the government, particularly around the acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Ramaphosa emphasized in the National Assembly in August that the amount spent by the government on PPE was approximately R11 billion.
“What has actually been spent on personal protective equipment according to Treasury records is approximately R11 billion. And a lot of that money has been used to buy PPE, ”said the president. “As the cases [of corruption] If they inform me about embezzlement first, we will know precisely the actual amount of this embezzlement … It is not 500 billion rand, I needed to clarify that, ”he said.
Auditor General Kimi Makwetu singled out Gauteng as one of the provinces that offered huge tenders for PPE to companies with no history of supplying health equipment and services. In fact, Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku was put on license at the end of July after being tied to a R125 million personal protective equipment deal.
“The runaway costs of the Nasrec facility are yet another reason why the suspended Health MEC Bandile Masuku should be fired, in addition to its inability to prevent massive corruption in PPE contracts,” said Bloom.
Earlier, the district attorney noted that the Gauteng health department spent R13,000 for each bed at the Nasrec field hospital, “but could easily have bought them from other providers for less than half the price.”
Citing a presentation to the Gauteng Legislature Health Committee, the Prosecution said 1,000 beds with mattresses were purchased for R13 million, and each bed cost R13,000.
He established that a fair price for this type of bed together with a mattress is approximately R5,000.
“The total cost of the equipment for the Nasrec field hospital is 24.1 million rand, which is also likely to be roughly double what it should have cost. It includes, for example, R18,000 spent on 40 wall clocks for R450 each, ”he said.
Read: Gauteng PPE Tender Corruption Uncovered
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