Fishy Gauteng PPE contracts must be probed

20 July 2020

The Gauteng Health Department needs to explain how a company owned by the husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s spokesperson Khusela Diko reportedly scored a multi-million rand contract to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a report in the Sunday Independent yesterday, MadzikaneDiko’s company, Royal Bhaca Projects (RBP), received part of the R2.2 billion PPE tenders awarded to 75 companies by the Gauteng Health Department since March 30, 2020.

It is also alleged that the department paid inflated prices, above the National Treasury’s regulated PPE price list published on April 15.

Diko has denied that RBP has a contract with the department or been paid any money, but the department’s expenditure report shows RBP was awarded another R47m PPE contract on March 30, two days before it got one for R78m on April 1.

Furthermore, it is alleged that RBP charged R58 per surgical mask compared to a regulated price of R12.48, and R85 per 500ml unit of Actigerm alcohol sanitiser, which is regulated at R46.37.

It appears that there were other fishy PPE suppliers for the R2.2 billion spent by the department in three months.

This may be the reason why the department’s Chief Financial Officer KabeloLehloenya resigned recently. We do not know if she was trying to stop the corruption or was perhaps implicated herself.

It should be unthinkable that anyone could benefit corruptly from this crisis by using connections to get contracts and charge rip-off prices.

I will be asking questions in the Gauteng Legislature to ensure that there is a proper investigation in this matter to ensure that all urgent purchases are value for money and free of corruption.

Issued by Jack Bloom,DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 20 July 2020