Heads are starting to roll in Gauteng, with Department of Health & Wellness boss Lesiba Arnold Malotana suspended this week, and the seizure of multi-million rand luxury assets suspected to be proceeds of fraud against Tembisa Hospital, writes MedicalBrief.
Malotana's suspension with immediate effect on Tuesday and the raid on luxury properties follows a Special Investigating Unit report into rampant corruption and theft at Tembisa hospital.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced the suspension and said he had appointed Dr Darion Barclay as acting HoD, reports News24.
In a statement, he said: “The Gauteng provincial government reaffirms its full support for the work of the SIU and other law enforcement agencies. We remain steadfast in our commitment to root out maladministration and to uphold the highest standards of accountability and ethical leadership.”
According to City Press, there had been calls for Lesufi to remove Malotana from his position after the SIU’s decision to probe two questionable contracts within the department, in which Malotana is implicated.
The contracts under investigation involve the supply and delivery of three-division plastic containers with lids, small tubs with lids, dual-surface polyester film, orthopaedic implants, fracture treatment, and arthroscopy items.
AmaBhungane previously reported that a whistle-blower had accused Malotana and two senior officials of manipulating supply chain processes to ensure that the medical devices company BAS Medxpress (BAS Med) received two tenders in 2016 and 2017. At the time, Malotana was the chief director of the Special Projects Directorate and the CEO of Gauteng Emergency Medical Services.
The whistle-blower alleged that Malotana and the two other officials received a kickback of more than R8m for their alleged assistance in securing a tender. Another alleged kickback of R3m was paid when BAS Med was chosen to supply orthopaedic equipment to Gauteng hospitals.
The suspension also follows the release of the SIU’s interim report into the network of corruption at Tembisa Hospital, revealing that nine syndicates had taken root at the facility, extracting R2bn over two years.
The SIU found that kickbacks worth R122m were secretly channelled to corrupt officials from the Department of Health, to enable the looting.
The networks were first flagged by Babita Deokaran, 19 days before she was killed, and then exposed by News24 in an investigative series titled Silenced.
The SIU identified 15 former and current department employees engaged in money laundering, corruption, collusion and bid rigging. It has prepared 116 disciplinary referrals against 13 officials, of which 108 were delivered to the provincial Health Department.
The Star reports that various organisations have blamed Parliament for not enforcing strong measures to hold accountable those in charge of public institutions, but provincial legislature spokesperson Thabisile Nzuke had said the legislature has implemented its Sector Oversight Model (SOM) to ensure the executive “delivers on its mandate in line with policy commitments, budget allocations, and service delivery targets”.
“Within this framework, the Health & Wellness Portfolio Committee exercises ongoing oversight over the Department of Health & Wellness, ensuring accountability in managing public health resources,” said Nzuke, and “systematically analyses performance, budget expenditure, and governance processes to safeguard against inefficiencies and potential misuse of funds”.
In its recently released and damning interim reports, the SIU revealed that numerous syndicates as well as Health staff, including senior managers, nurses, and clerks, were behind the looting of Tembisa Hospital through flagrant breaching of supply chain management policies.
Local businessmen Rudolph Mazibuko, Hangwani Morgan Maumela and Vusimuzi Matlala have all been cited as operators of the main criminal syndicates.
Nzuke said the Health & Wellness Portfolio Committee Committee, “in particular, continues to refine how it monitors the implementation of remedial measures, especially where irregularities have been identified – such as those highlighted in the Tembisa report”.
SIU unapologetic
However, the SIU slammed officials’ abysmal failure to act against those linked to the Tembisa looting – especially Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko – and in its report, said not just Health officials but hospital staff had all abdicated their duties, allowing the looting of billions to go unabated.
The Cape Times reports that the SIU’s preliminary report in December 2022 had initially confirmed R850m in fraud and corruption, but the update last month showed this had swelled to more than R2bn. The investigation is expected to conclude in November 2027.
The investigation, initially meant to investigate expenditure at the hospital from January 2020 to September 2023, was expanded to include transactions from 2018 to 2024, and thus far, more than 15 current and former officials have been identified as having received R120m through their involvement in the corruption schemes.
The number is expected to rise as investigations continue.
‘Fast-tracked’
Nkomo-Ralehoko said 11 officials had been identified in the SIU report and recommended for disciplinary action and criminal charges, and that five Supply Chain Management employees serving as Quotation Adjudication Committee members faced various charges based on their roles.
“The main charges were gross misconduct for failure to comply with the decentralised Supply Chain Management policy of 2019 and gross misconduct, which prejudices the administration, discipline, or efficiency of the department in line with the Public Finance Management Act,” she said, adding that three of the staff had been found guilty of all charges and dismissed.
The disciplinary hearings of Dr Ashley Mthunzi – who died in 2024 – and the ongoing case of Dr Lekopane Mogaladi, were handled by the Office of the State Attorneys from the Gauteng Premier’s office.
Not good enough
But the DA in Gauteng has expressed disappointment about the progress of the disciplinary action, saying not a single company implicated has been blacklisted, while the pension funds of those who had retired or resigned had not been frozen.
DA provincial spokesperson for Health Madeleine Hicklin said of the 177 forensic investigations, 76 have been released – and most of those are heavily redacted.
“Lesufi continues to shield GDoH officials,” she said.
Gauteng Health, which failed to answer specific questions sent on Monday, said that blacklisting of companies will take place after the SIU issues a final report, and that the interim report does not include the names of service providers.
Lesufi’s spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, said the accusations were “baseless”, as the Premier had “initiated the ongoing SIU investigation as part of his and the provincial government’s commitment to uncovering the truth”.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) also said the disciplinary action against those implicated was inadequate.
“Unfortunately, senior executives at the Department of Health, as well as the MEC and the Premier, are all … seen as part of the problem and their inaction suggests they have not taken this corruption seriously enough.
“The question then becomes, what do they know that caused them to ‘look away’ for so long?” asked Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage.
Duvenage has blamed the government’s weak system – that was supposed to prevent fraud, corruption, and maladministration – on national and provincial Parliaments’ “long period of arrogance”, telling The Star that certain politicians looked away from wrongdoing because this financially benefited not only their political parties, but themselves, their families and their friends.
“Greed has blinded their consciences and thus… Parliament began to negate its oversight duties, allowing SOEs and departments to be plundered and weakened,” Duvenage said.
He added that it was Parliament’s job to ensure those in charge of government institutions subscribed to their oath of office.
Asset haul
Meanwhile, three Lamborghinis, a massage parlour, and a fully equipped home salon were among the assets seized in a special operation by the SIU, SAPS and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers last week when they descended on the luxury triple-storey Sandton mansion of disgraced businessman Hangwani Maumela, linked to the Tembisa plundering.
News24 reports that the Asset Forfeiture Unit had previously obtained court orders to seize all of Maumela’s properties and assets, among them the Sandton house and other homes in Bantry Bay in Cape Town, and Ballito, with a collective worth of R320m.
The three-year investigation had uncovered that Maumela used a network of 41 companies to steal R820m in just two years.
Credit where credit due
DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom said that while asset seizures were a “good and necessary” step by the SIU, it could not stop here, reports Polity.org.
He added that while the SIU deserved credit for the progress made, its findings were only an interim report.
“The final report will only be completed next year, and we know from experience that the NPA is far too slow when it comes to acting on such findings. The NPA must move faster. The evidence is already clear. It’s time for prosecutions,” he said.
“South Africans want to see arrests, charges, and convictions. We need the masterminds of this looting in court, not just their cars being loaded on to trucks.
“We cannot afford another Life Esidimeni situation, where nine years later not a single person has been charged. The same culture of delay and impunity must not take hold here. The theft at Tembisa Hospital cost lives and crippled basic healthcare. Those responsible must be held to account,” he said.
Bloom said the next step must ensure stolen funds were recovered and returned to the Gauteng Health Department.
The party vowed to keep pressure on the case until justice was done for whistle-blower Deokaran.
Meanwhile, Deokaran's family has rejected calls to rename Tembisa Hospital after her, citing its current state of corruption and poor conditions, and saying the best way to honour her would be by eliminating corruption from the facility, improving staff conditions, and delivering quality care.
News24 reports that they “remain open to renaming it in the future if significant reforms are made”.
In a Facebook message last week, her sister, Renu Williams, said the family appreciated the sentiment, but that they were “absolutely not on board” with the idea.
“We definitely do not want her name on the hospital,” she said after numerous calls on social media sites about renaming the facility after her sister.
“Her family has become her voice, so I can confidently say on behalf of Babita that she would not want that either,” she added.
“If Tembisa Hospital were ever to be cleaned up, in every way possible, we may reconsider. And of course, what better way to honour her than for us to ensure that the mastermind/s behind her assassination are arrested and held accountable.”
Family spokesperson Tony Haripersad told News24 said they wanted to protect her legacy.
“The hospital already has so much negative stigma attached to it, and there are so many dishonest officials still employed there.”
Cape Times PressReader article – Premier, Health MEC under fire for failure to act (Open access)
News24 – Deokaran family ‘absolutely not on board’ with Tembisa Hospital renaming proposal
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Health officials central to R2bn Tembisa looting spree
Unions demand lifestyle audits for all Tembisa staff
Tembisa Hospital officials suspended after SIU report
‘All systems go’ for SIU Tembisa Hospital probe