A Tembisa Hospital official and a sergeant from the Hawks have been charged with corruption and are due to appear in court this week, reports News24.
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said an officer had been approached by the 41-year-old sergeant who told him a Tembisa official wanted to meet regarding an ongoing investigation linked to the hospital.
“The sergeant indicated that the hospital official …was willing to offer gratification to avoid prosecution,” Mbambo said.
When the Hawks officer and the hospital official met with the complainant and the case investigator, more than R100 000 was handed to the investigating officer as a “gratification”.
“An operation authorised by the Director of Public Prosecutions was subsequently executed by the Serious Corruption Investigation unit, leading to the arrest of both the sergeant and the Tembisa Hospital official,” said Mbambo.
Deokaran’s name to to be kept alive
Meanwhile, four years after Babita Deokaran was killed, the Gauteng provincial legislature has adopted a motion that will ensure the whistle-blower’s memory is immortalised in public service, this week agreeing it was important for her to be remembered, among other ways, by perhaps naming a building or government department after her.
The Citizen reports that the motion was proposed by the DA’s Jack Bloom, who said that whatever was decided, however, must be done in consultation with the family.
“It could be the naming of a facility or a department,” he said, but added that the best tribute for Deokaran “would be a completely transformed Gauteng health department”.
The family has already firmly rejected the renaming of the Tembisa Hospital after Deokaran.
Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said that they had already begun honouring Deokaran, and at a ceremony at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Monday, had paid tribute “to all the men and women … who have chosen the fight against corruption rather than to be complicit”.
“The … department unveiled their names alongside those colleagues who paid the ultimate price for standing up for wrongdoing … in the newly established Garden of Heroes, a memorial park for staff who died in the line of duty.”
The masterminds behind Deokaran’s death have never been found.
However, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has said that since the release of an interim report on the Tembisa Hospital corruption scandal, a number of Health Department officials have already voluntarily approached the watchdog to return some of the stolen money.
Speaking to News24 on Thursday during International Fraud Awareness Week, SIU head Andy Mothibi said several officials implicated in the looting scheme had come forward of their own accord to return money.
The three-year preliminary investigation revealed that nine syndicates had siphoned out billions over two years, and Mothibi emphasised the urgency of the SIU’s mission to recover at least 90% of the stolen money: while conceding the target as “a bit steep” , he said it was necessary, given the scale of the theft.
“Since the release of the report, these people will be aware that any assets …from the corruption from Tembisa, they will [lose] them, and that’s why we need to move quickly.”
The SIU’s goal is to complete the investigation by 2026, and it expected more asset freezes and recoveries ahead.
Mothibi said the organisation can only recover assets and would rely on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) for criminal prosecutions.
“We’ve made a number of referrals to the NPA. Thereafter, they refer them to the Hawks to finalise the criminal prosecution part. We have a [memorandum of understanding] with the NPA, and regular interactions. We included the Hawks as part of the MOU.”
However, significant challenges remain in South Africa’s anti-corruption efforts.
Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka, in her keynote address, said her office had received a complaint regarding the lack of implementation of SIU reports, and that out of 52 reports [from the] SIU, only about six reports (had) recommendations implemented.
“South Africa has a snail’s pace in implementation of governance reform and, as a result, is unable to combat corruption.”
She said the Tembisa corruption began with the irregular appointment of the late CEO Ashley Mthunzi, who was “running away from a disciplinary [hearing] from a previous appointment”, illustrating a pattern of employing compromised people to key positions.
“It’s employing the wrong people to critical positions. Particularly employing people with the intention to commit corruption. The wrong person was employed as CEO, and he employed other wrong people,” Gcaleka told News24.
News24 – Tembisa hospital corruption probe sparks voluntary repayment by some health officials
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Gauteng Health boss first casualty in Tembisa fraud crackdown
Tembisa Hospital ‘kingpin’ nailed by SARS on tax charges