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Illustrative image | Sources: Adobe Stock / Unsplash
Of the 15.6 billion rand spent on personal protective equipment and other Covid-19 measures from April to August, the Special Investigation Unit is investigating contracts worth 10.5 billion rand. And it’s a moving target as investigations expand.
When the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) last reported to Parliament’s public spending watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on August 21, its investigation account was 658 dubious contracts worth R5. .08 billion.
On Tuesday, when the SIU reported back to Scopa, that tally stood at 930 service providers with dubious contracts, the value of which unit chief Andy Mothibi described as a moving target.
Corruption related to Covid-19 has enraged South Africans and continues to be a topic of conversation in metropolitan areas, municipalities, towns and towns, especially since tender businessmen and people with political connections largely won out.
Slide 12 of SIU’s PowerPoint presentation to MPs highlights the scope of the Covid-19 embezzlement, and that there is still a way to go.
“The R10.5 billion investigated by SIU represent 67% of the total spending of the year to date of R15.6 billion. Of the R10.5 billion under investigation, +/- R223 million are currently in the Special Court to annul contracts and recover losses. ”
Details of the scale and impact of Covid-19 corruption are drawn from multiple pages in the 47-page presentation to MPs.
The provinces are responsible for most of the crimes. Of the R9.652 billion available for Covid-19 measures at the provincial level, R7.254 billion is now under scrutiny. Gauteng leads with the misappropriation of R4,339 billion, followed by Eastern Cape with R1,802 billion and KwaZulu-Natal with R533 million.
Procurement violations that were sanctioned by officials employed in a variety of provincial departments include R22.4 million for 48,000 blankets, R10 million for scooters, and personal protective equipment (PPE) of questionable quality, often priced well above the regulated price. by the National Treasury. .
The figures are slightly less intense at the local government level, where contracts valued at R90 million out of a total of R352 million spent on Covid-19 measures between April and August are being investigated.
Nationwide, R158 million of Covid-19 R477 million spending is under scrutiny. That includes the Department of Basic Education spending R220 million on water tanks provided by 121 service providers.
Some of these matters are moving toward completion before the Special Court.
They include the 39 bank accounts involved in Royal Bhaca Projects’ Gauteng Covid-19 tenders led by Madzikane II Thandisizwe Diko, husband of Khusela Diko, spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who, when the scandal broke in July, was fired from office.
They also include the Eastern Cape scooters that were initially touted as patient transport when, in July, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize visited the province before the R10 million saga fell apart amid official confirmation that the Vehicles were not approved to transport any patients. The SIU said it had already obtained an order to freeze any additional payments.
Around 80,000 doubtful transactions identified by the Auditor General’s Office must be verified in a real-time audit of Covid-19 transactions. That report It was released in early September. It details violations ranging from lack of proper record keeping to procurement violations, including the overpricing on the R145 billion Covid-19 measures available in the June 2020 emergency Covid-19 Budget, officially the Adjustment Budget. special.
The head of the SIU called for “urgent attention” to the laws, including the Labor Relations Law, to allow action against officials who resign to avoid the consequences of contracting violations.
“The legal position, at this time, is uncertain whether an employer can deny an employee’s resignation. As we speak now, we really need a framework to address this recycling of people, ”Mothibi said in reference to officials resigning under a cloud only to resurface in another part of the civil service.
The Public Service Law allows disciplinary hearings to follow that official, forcing the receiving department to continue with these steps. When the SIU becomes aware of such a movement by an official, “we refer the disciplinary process to the receiving department.”
Scopa also heard Tuesday that six of the 174 criminal cases handled by elite police investigators, the Hawks, are already in court, with 19 defendants.
The cases described in the Hawks / National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) joint investigations include what has been widely publicly reported. One such case is that of six individuals accused of diverting R5.68 million from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (FIU) of the Temporary Employer / Employee (Ters) Assistance Scheme to purchase luxury items such as automobiles.
It also includes the Malamulele CAS85 / 10/2020 police case of Hlamalani Dorris Mashimbye, described as an “EPWP (Expanded Public Works Program) group manager” who had requested FIU Ters on behalf of 224 individuals and then allegedly misappropriated funds for her and relatives. Her husband, Masenyane William Khosa, was arrested while withdrawing money from her account, according to the presentation to MPs.
Hawks chief Godfrey Lebeya, both a lieutenant general and attorney, emphasized to MPs the cooperation of various law enforcement agencies.
A Priority Crime Specialized Investigation division general has been appointed to oversee and monitor all investigations related to Covid-19 corruption. It is a clear sign of the seriousness attributed to this unlawful conduct, despite the lack of digital and forensic auditing skills from the Hawks and the prosecution.
But, Mothibi said, the challenge is enormous, as more information comes to light, including from whistleblowers.
Around 80,000 doubtful transactions identified by the Office of the Auditor General must be verified in a real-time audit of Covid-19 transactions. That report It was released in early September. It details violations ranging from lack of proper record keeping to procurement violations, including the overpricing on the R145 billion Covid-19 measures available in the June 2020 emergency Covid-19 Budget, officially the Adjustment Budget. special.
On August 21, Scopa was informed of the extent of the corruption, made possible by a dysfunctional public administration accustomed to the lack of consequences for irregularities.
Later, Auditor General Kimi Makwetu, National Director of Public Processes Shamila Batohi, and South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter delivered the same message: Preventive measures are needed in the heart of the departments. to stop the embezzlement before it starts.
Scopa indicated that it would continue to observe actions on Covid-19 corruption, with MPs emphasizing the need for consequences for wrongdoers.
But what must be corrected is the institutional and political culture that allows officials and politically connected, as the saying goes, to eat. DM
