Four vaccine research procurement contracts will come under the SIU’s microscope as it investigates serious maladministration and improper conduct allegations in government departments, a major university and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Daily Maverick reports that the probe involves funding agreements for vaccine research and development entered into by or on behalf of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), the Technology Innovation Agency, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the CSIR.
Last month, the SIU announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had signed proclamation 304 of 2025, mandating the unit to look into the procurement of or contracting for goods, works or services for these projects.
“These include contracts for the development of a National Vaccine Manufacturing Strategy, finalisation of an overarching vaccine development and manufacturing strategy, and projects related to a Virus-Like Particles (VLP) platform,” said SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.
The National Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing Strategy was developed by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation to consolidate national efforts in vaccine development, translational research and manufacturing.
Kganyago said the investigation would determine whether the research contracts and related payments were conducted in a manner that was “not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable or cost-effective”.
Under scrutiny will be allegations that were lodged between 1 January 2021 and 19 December 2025.
Senior UKZN-linked researchers have distanced their units from the investigation, with Professor Tulio de Oliveira, telling the Sunday Tribune that the probe does not involve the KZN Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), the university’s internationally recognised health sciences research centre.
“We have not been involved in the vaccine research and manufacturing projects, and I have no knowledge about this investigation. I have not been contacted about it,” he said.
Similarly, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), said his organisation has no vaccine-related projects with the institutions named in the proclamation.
“I was not aware of a project to make VLP vaccines, and this is not an area in which we are conducting research,” he said.
UKZN referred questions to the DSTI, which confirmed it was fully aware of the issues outlined in the SIU proclamation and had already initiated an internal process to examine the alleged irregularities.
“Over the past several months, the department has been involved in an internal process to proactively establish the veracity of these allegations and, where relevant, address them. This process is ongoing,” it said, adding that it had pledged full cooperation with the SIU.
Sunday Tribune PressReader article – SIU probes UKZN over vaccine sourcing (Open access)
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