DA asks Public Protector to investigate FS Health contracts with Buthelezi EMS, Mediosa and Halo Aviation
3 July 2018
The DA has today requested Public Protector, Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to investigate three controversial contracts the Provincial Department of Health entered into with Buthelezi EMS, Mediosa and Halo Aviation. Our submission can be seen here and here.
We are of the opinion that these contracts were awarded due to political considerations, that they are inflated, and that there is no real value for money. We also believe that the hundreds of millions of rands spent over the last three to four years could have been better applied to expand the capacity of emergency, mobile clinic services and patient transported services in the Free State within the Provincial Department of Health.
The company registration details of each contractor show that these entities either laid dormant, or were established just prior to the awarding of these contracts, creating the suspicion that these contracts were awarded to either resurrect business activity and/or that the companies were formed for the purpose of being awarded these lucrative contracts. Which questions the ethics and fairness of the entire process in contracting these services which should be to the benefit of the people of the Free State and not political cadres and cronies of the ANC.
The Buthelezi EMS contract expired in August 2017, and have since been renewed on a month to month basis while the Department delayed the calling for invitations of a new tender, and has since been dragging its feet to adjudicate on the bids received. This is extremely problematic since the Department knew the exact date of the termination of this contract and could have advertised invitations for a new tender long before the expiry date.