ANOTHER WASTEFUL GAUTENG HEALTH CONTRACT

The Gauteng Health Department spent more than R1 million on a consultant to do one month’s work on financial matters which could easily have been done internally.

This is revealed by Acting Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mamabolo, Sekela Consulting and Xabiso Chartered Accountants was paid R 1 059 791.50 to review the annual financial statements and annual report of the Gauteng Department of Health for the 2018/2019 financial year.

They worked for one month in 2019 which Mamabolo says was justified as “the Department lacked internal capacity.”

As with other fishy contracts an open tender process was not followed in appointing this company. For some strange reason the City Manager of Ekurhuleni Municipality granted approval for the Department to participate in contract number A-lA-2017 which covers the appointment of a panel of Audit Firms to Provide Audit and Risk Management Services.

It is also suspicious that this company was appointed by former Chief Financial Officer Kabelo Lehloenya who is now under investigation for the corrupt PPE contracts

Premier David Makhura boasts about the open tender process which he introduced but it is easily bypassed time and again by the Gauteng Health Department.

Radical surgery is needed to clear out all the rot in this department to ensure that all wasteful and corrupt expenditure is eliminated.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 8 September 2020