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Gauteng Prime Minister David Makhura
PHOTO: Rosetta Msimango / City Press
- Gauteng Prime Minister David Makhura says his department wants to recoup money paid to corrupt EPP suppliers.
- Makhura said two senior department officials were suspended on Wednesday and will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.
- He added that the number of companies involved had risen to 61.
Gauteng Prime Minister David Makhura promised on Thursday that action would be taken against all corrupt officials involved in the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as those who allowed it to happen.
Makhura placed the head of the provincial health department, Professor Mkhululi Lukhele, on preventive suspension with immediate effect on Wednesday.
Makhura’s office said it was acting on the recommendations of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), following the submission of an updated report on September 22, 2020.
On Thursday, the prime minister reiterated that action would be taken on the SIU’s recommendations.
“I want to make sure that I hold everyone accountable for the evil that has happened. We have to deal with this decisively and live up to it.”
Makhura said that in addition to Lukhele, another senior official was implicated in the latest SIU report. The person was deputy director general of the health department and had also been suspended, although the accountant and not himself, Makhura said.
“The report identified things for which they must be held accountable and a disciplinary process is underway,” the prime minister said.
He added that the number of companies involved in irregularities had risen to 61.
“We want to send a strong message that corruption does not pay. We want to get the money back. Where people have been appointed irregularly, those who did so must be held accountable.”
Mercilessly
Earlier this month, Makhura said that he “had no mercy on any government official who was acting badly,” as he sought to assure the Gauteng legislature that he would crack down on corruption.
Makhura’s remarks came after his administration was rocked by allegations of corruption surrounding the award of Covid-19 PPE contracts at his health department.
Most notable was the alleged irregular 125 million rand contract awarded to Madzikane II Thandisizwe Diko, the husband of the ANC provincial executive committee member and spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa, Khusela Diko.
Links also emerged between Health MEC Bandile Masuku and his wife Loyiso, who sat on the Johannesburg council. All three were asked to take special leave.
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