The net is closing in on AmaBhaca chief Madzikane ll Thandisizwe Diko, the husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko.
Sunday World can reveal that the special investigating unit (SIU) has opened a case of fraud against Royal Bhaca Projects after the company was controversially awarded a multimillion-rand contract to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) by the Gauteng health department.
The Sunday Independent reported that the department had awarded the company R125-million in contracts to supply PPE. Diko, who is the sole director of the company, has since said the contract was cancelled on the advice of his wife, Khusela, who cited a possible conflict of interest since she is a member of the ANC’s executive committee in Gauteng.
The Dikos said they did not receive any payment for the contracts. But a police statement shows the SIU opened a case of fraud against Diko.
It reads in part: “The complainant states that a Mr Diko received a PPE tender for R38 758 115 fraudulently.” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed the unit had opened cases against three companies and referred two officials for disciplinary action by Gauteng Premier David Makhura.
On Friday, Makhura suspended the health department’s chief director for supply chain, Thandy Pino, on allegations of enabling and facilitating corruption in procurement of PPE. The department’s former CFO, Kabelo Lehloenya , who has resigned, has also been fingered by the SIU for the same actions as Pino. The provincial government plans to take legal action against her.
Kganyago would not divulge names of those the unit is investigating and the companies that it has laid criminal charges against. “When we do an investigation, there are three outcomes. The first outcome is disciplinary hearing. The second outcome, if we find criminality, we then refer to the NPA, for that purpose. In this instance, we had to refer three companies, not individuals, to the NPA,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean if we referred them for DC, we can’t refer them to the NPA when we fi nd criminality against them. For now, we are not there yet. The third outcome is the issue of recovery. When we find that the contract was entered into illegally, we cancel the contract and we recover the money. We are not yet there,” he added. Sources in the provincial government said Makhura and the SIU were pushing to recoup money paid to Royal Bhaca.
Diko said he was not aware of the SIU case. “I however reiterate my commitment to fully cooperate with the SIU or any other institution on this matter”, Diko said. This came as Ramaphosa instructed his cabinet ministers to this week urgently submit lists of all companies that were involved in COVID-19 procurement, including the supply of PPE.
Sources close to Ramaphosa said he was angry about the looting frenzy of money for medical equipment and the failure of government institutions to follow National Treasury instructions on the procurement of PPE. Ramaphosa this week also established an inter-ministerial team to deal with alleged corruption in COVID-19 procurement.
Sunday World understands that Cabinet was told on Wednesday that only the Department of International Relations and Cooperation followed the regulations to purchase PPE. Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi would neither confirm nor deny the case, only saying the Hawks were working closely with the SIU . “We have, however, received a number of cases which have been prioritised and at the appropriate time we will make public announcements of their outcome,” he said
