Despite 93 companies being blacklisted and implicated in fraud, maladministration and corruption, including those linked by the SIU to the Tembisa Hospital scandal, not a single one appears on the Restricted Supplier and Tender Defaulter Report (RSTDR) of the Gauteng Health Department.
Gauteng Health & Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, in response to questions in the provincial legislature from the DA’s MPL and spokesperson for health, Jack Bloom, said that none of the companies appeared on the RSTDR, because “the department cannot record companies on the list, but must report them for blacklisting through the relevant Treasury department”.
A Treasury requirement is that only confirmed cases are reported to avoid litigation. “The department awaits final counsel and SIU reports before reporting the companies,” the MEC said.
Bloom said this meant the 93 companies could still get tenders from Gauteng hospitals, reports The Citizen.
“In stark contrast, 18 companies were put on the RSTDR list by the Western Cape Health Department for fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, or misrepresentation of information," he pointed out.
“Both the DA-led Midvaal and Modimolle-Mookgophong local authorities put five companies on this list. There are even three companies placed there by the Limpopo Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.”
He said he was astounded that the provincial Health Department had not put a single company on this list despite the many scandals associated with companies irregularly appointed and involved in proven criminality over many years.
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