Johannesburg – The special investigating unit (SIU) has filed a court application with the Special Tribunal to secure an order interdicting two Free State provincial departments from making payments to companies that delivered personal protective equipment (PPE) which was non-compliant with tender specification advertised by the Treasury.
Sunday World can reveal that the law-enforcement agency filed a notice with the Special Tribunal in November indicating that it wants to also review and terminate the contracts entered into between the Treasury on behalf of the Health Department with 32 service providers to supply and deliver PPE worth R39-million.
The SIU probe has also uncovered that of the 32 companies, six companies were paid despite having delivered wrong surgical gowns, to the tune of R9-million.
The SIU’s chief forensic investigator, Johannes Hendrick Nicolaas Nepgen, said they discovered during their investigations that of all 32 companies appointed by the department, only three companies managed to deliver the correct surgical gowns that were provided by the Treasury on behalf of the Department of Health.
Head of department for Free State treasury Godfrey Mahlatsi said they had not been served with the summons yet. “We are the ones who reported the matter to the SIU because we wanted to cooperate with them. We didn’t want to hide anything from them,” he said.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed that the entity had filed a court application with the tribunal.
“It’s an application wherein we seek that the payment not be made to service providers and for the cancellation of the contracts. The applications are being served as we speak, and once served we will apply for a hearing date,” said Kganyago.
Mahlatsi confirmed some companies identified by the SIU had received payments but said it was for other services rendered and not for delivering surgical gowns that were found not to comply with specifications.
He confirmed that the department was instructed by the SIU to stop all payments including that they must not use the stock delivered by the companies they appointed.
“We have been receiving calls from most of the service providers demanding payment, but we had to explain to them that no payment can be made until the SIU completes its investigations,” said Mahlatsi.
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