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Four former Gauteng health officials facing R1.2 billion worth of fraud and corruption charges received bail at the Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday, but former MEC Brian Hlongwa, allegedly central to the scheme, was not. More arrests are expected.
In September 2009, former Gauteng Health MEC Brian Hlongwa and his wife hired a limousine for a luxurious spa treatment. The day was allegedly paid for by a small business that had profited handsomely from contracts with the provincial health department: 3P Consulting.
Four former employees of Gauteng’s health department eventually appeared in court for their alleged corrupt relationship with 3P Consulting and a number of related companies, which in 2007 had allegedly orchestrated and received irregular contracts worth 1.2 billion rand while paying shamelessly bribes.
Former Head of Department Sybil Ngcobo, Former Head of ICT Mmakgosi Mosupi, Former Head of Supply Chain Valdis Romaano, and Former Managing Director of the Executive Support Program Obakeng Mookeletsi were released on bail at the Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday, October 22.
They face charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and violation of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
Hlongwa, who resigned as the ANC’s top whip in the provincial legislature in 2018 over the long-standing allegations, was not among those charged. However, a report by the Special Investments Unit (SIU), released in 2018 after an application for the Section 27 Information Access Promotion Act was filed, found that Hlongwa was central to the corrupt scheme.
Civil society groups Corruption Watch and the Treatment Action Campaign fought to hold alleged perpetrators accountable as authorities crawled in.
The SIU discovered that Hlongwa met with 3P director Richard Payne in 2000, while the former was a councilor in the city of Johannesburg. After Hlongwa was appointed MEC of Health in 2006, 3P was irregularly awarded a contract to compile the department’s budget.
Then 3P Consulting was appointed to develop a turnaround strategy for the department and won a contract to establish a project management unit (PMU). After conceptualizing the PMU, 3P bid on the contract and, according to the SIU, awarded contracts to family and friends of its directors, appointed unauthorized subcontractors, awarded contracts unrelated to department goals, and inflated prices.
After multiple irregular budget increases, the Gauteng health department spent R329 million on the PMU. More than R470 million was spent on updating the IT system for electronic medical records and more than R299 million was spent on updating the network infrastructure, ignoring the recommended procurement processes.
Approximately 20 3P employees were sent to the department, without any proof that the department needed or had requested help. The SIU report It basically described state capture, before state capture became the go-to phrase for the rampant looting of state institutions necessary to provide life-saving services.
The project that brought the four former officials to court was intended to cost R57 million over three years, but skyrocketed to R1.2 billion, the Hawks said in a statement Thursday.
In 2007, Hlongwa bought a house in Bryanston for R7.2 million. He paid a R2.6 million deposit, allegedly provided by 3P and Niven Pillay, Director of Regiments Health Care, who was appointed by 3P as a subcontractor.
Hlongwa financed the remainder by selling her previous house, bought by Kemsing Services for R4.75 million. Kemsing’s director, Paul Smidek, was a director of another company that benefited from the 3P deals, and Kemsing reportedly paid Hlongwa another 1.5 million rand directly.
Hlongwa has repeatedly denied the accusations against him and He said the SIU report repeated longstanding allegations that have yet to be proven in court.
DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom questioned why Hlongwa has not been charged.
“For a long time I suspected that the delay in bringing this case to trial is due to Hlongwa having political protection,” Bloom said.
“The Gauteng Health Department has not yet recovered from its disastrous tenure when financial controls were dissolved and service delivery suffered.”
The Hawks also plan to charge the directors of the companies involved.
“Two directors of private companies who improperly benefited from the tender have not yet been charged along with their two companies. These directors are reportedly out of the country, but steps have already been taken to ensure that they are told, ”said the statement from the Hawks, who arrested and charged several people in high-profile corruption cases.
The four accused individuals, Ngcobo, Mosupi, Romaano and Mookeletsi, have reportedly indicated their intention to fight the charges. DM
