Efforts by major players in the Gauteng tender scandals to plunder state resources knew no bounds, with well-planned ruses designed to extract money while camouflaging their trails.
In one such example, Oupa Brown Mogotsi, linked to suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, played agent provocateur in court action to overturn the award of a lucrative North West Health catering tender after Hangwani Morgan Maumela’s shell company lost out, reports News24.
On 15 September 2023, the Brown Mogotsi Foundation launched an interdict application before the North West High Court (Mahikeng) to stay a four-year catering deal for 11 major health facilities in the province – worth around R1bn – and then have the tender award set aside.
In court papers, Mogotsi set out how the action was brought “in the interest of other (losing) bidders” and to prevent an irregular process, in the public interest.
Among those bidders was Aloo Construction and Supply, a dummy company within a web of 41 entities making up a Tembisa Hospital syndicate controlled by Maumela.
Maumela, through Aloo and its proxy director, used fake and forged documents to bid for a similar catering contract from the North West Health Department, and then launched court action when the company was disqualified.
The tender is the common link in a chain connecting political-influence-peddler-cum-philanthropist Mogotsi and R2.3bn Tembisa Hospital syndicate kingpin Maumela.
Objections
In August 2023, Mogotsi’s foundation sent a letter to then-provincial Health MEC Madoda Sambatha demanding access to information surrounding “catering tender: 04/2023”.
He wrote: “(This is) to inform the department about our active intention to challenge the awarding of the tender … it is our view that it has been irregularly awarded and … prejudiced not only the other bidders but the interests of the communities and health users it is intended to serve.”
When the letter was sent, the tender award had not yet been published.
In response, Sambatha denied his request, writing that he was “perplexed to learn that you seem to know … and have formulated an opinion that it was irregularly awarded”.
Court action followed and Mogotsi set out his cause of action and framed himself as a champion of the people, describing the applicant as a not-for-profit company “with its purpose to champion the interests of communities, including business and economic interests against maladministration in government departments”.
He added that he was in contact with a whistle-blower within the department who had confided concerns about the probity of the tender process, chiefly, that the tender was awarded to a single bidder. However, he provided no evidence.
“The applicant brings this application in the public interest and in the interests of other bidders to the tender. It cannot be in the interests of justice and that only one service provider is awarded a tender to provide catering services to various healthcare facilities and nursing colleges for a period of four years,” he said.
Acting Judge Okgabile Yvonne Dibetso-Bodibe granted the application on 22 September 2023, and denied the Health Department leave to appeal – a decision which was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal in April 2024.
Four months later, in August, Mogotsi withdrew his application, and the tender was implemented.
Perfect timing
Mogotsi’s about-turn closely preceded the publication of another provincial catering tender, also valued at more than R1bn over four years, on 29 October.
For this deal, Aloo submitted a bid, and when the award went to a different outfit, it interdicted the implementation and set in motion a process of reviewing and setting aside the tender, just as Mogotsi did.
News24 first revealed that Aloo used a fake BEE certificate in its bid for the mammoth deal.
Aloo was established in 2011 and is steered by a single director, Tebogo Sebogodi, appointed in November 2023.
Sebogodi replaced Aluwani Titus Maumela, Hangwani Morgan Maumela’s cousin, and the previous sole director of Aloo, who resigned a month before he died in a car accident.
The company was red-flagged along with more than 200 other Tembisa Hospital suppliers as “possibly fraudulent” by whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, three weeks before she was killed in 2021.
The SIU has named Maumela as head of the most prolific syndicate operating at Tembisa Hospital, responsible for extraction through tainted contracts valued at R820m.
The North West Department of Health said Mogotsi’s challenge caused upheaval, and compromised more than 1m patients and staff.
“The appointed service provider was about to start the work when the interdict was granted. All the preparations had been done but everything had to stop and the department had no option but make alternative arrangements on the eleventh hour to avoid a potential disruption in the provision of food to the patients and nursing students.”
Regarding the fraudulent documents submitted by Maumela’s proxy company, it said: “We are … confirming certain information that has come to light. Once official confirmation is received that proves the existence of fraud, the department will report a criminal case accordingly. The entity will be reported to the National Treasury for possible blacklisting.”
News24 article – Massive R1bn health tender reveals bedfellows with benefits (Restricted access)
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