The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has warned that it will continue to pursue government officials who resign in the face of investigations by freezing their pensions and instituting civil litigation against them.
On Thursday, the crime-fighting unit obtained a preservation order to freeze the pension benefits of former head of Limpopo health department Thokozani Mhlongo.
Mhlongo resigned in a huff in June amid an investigation related to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the Covid-19 global pandemic.
In terms of the order, granted by the Special Tribunal, the Government Employees Pension Fund interdicted and restrained from paying out or transferring any benefits due to Mhlongo pending the final determination of civil proceedings for recovery instituted by the SIU against her.
In a statement on Thursday, the SIU said it has uncovered irregularities in the appointment of service providers Clinipro, Pro Secure, and Ndia Business Trading for the supply and delivery of PPE, which resulted in the department incurring irregular expenditure and/or a fruitless and wasteful expenditure of about R182-million.
The probe also revealed that Mhlongo, as the accounting officer, allegedly exposed the department to wasteful expenditure when she authorised the procurement and payment of 10 000 cellphones to the tune of R10-million for Covid-19 household screening.
Between September 2020 and March 2021, the department only managed to distribute 388 of the 10 000 cellphones. However, the distributed cellphones did not have the required screening application.
The SIU investigation revealed that after the investigators had counted the cellphones in storage in March 2021, it emerged that the department had distributed 9 588 cellphones to community healthcare workers for Covid-19 vaccination – again without the required application installed.
“The SIU welcomes the preservation order granted by the Special Tribunal. This is a continuation of the implementation of the SIU investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover assets and financial losses suffered by state institutions and/or to prevent further losses,” it said.
“The SIU will continue to pursue officials who resign in the face of an investigation or in the face of a disciplinary action by freezing their pension benefits and institute civil litigation to recover financial losses suffered by state institutions.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
