Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said last week that the Geneva-based Global Fund is sending its own investigators to SA to probe allegations that its money was used to issue a multimillion-rand tender for an unaccredited company to supply oxygen to 55 public hospitals.
Motsoaledi revealed this to MPs in the National Assembly after earlier reports of the Independent Development Trust (IDT) awarding the R428m tender to install the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants.
The winning company does not have the required accreditation from the SA Health Professions Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), and the Minister said that having an international body involved in investigations “means there’s no place to hide if there was corruption”.
He said President Cyril Ramaphosa had ordered a probe into the matter and a report within 14 days.
“The IDT is managing the oxygen supply tender on behalf of the Department of Health, in its capacity as an implementing agent of the Department of Public Works. For this reason, Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson is investigating this issue – but I talk to him every day about it,” added Motsoaledi.
The Global Fund, which funds health projects in South Africa to the tune of R10bn every three years, was conducting its own parallel probe “to ensure its money was not being “wasted”.
He was unable to confirm whether or not the tender had been halted or suspended in the meantime during the investigations.
TimesLIVE article – Global Fund mounts own probe into R428m oxygen tender (Restricted access)
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