Cabinet has given an undertaking that companies that stole money from the state by inflating prices of personal protective equipment will be “severely punished”.
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said government would ensure that cash looted through the PPEs is recouped by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
The SIU was investigating over 650 contracts related to the purchasing of personal protective equipment, to the tune of more than R5bn, the leadership of the unit recently told Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa).
“The scourge of corruption, which manifests itself in the blatant theft and looting of state resources, is the biggest societal cancer that has the potential to erode public trust in government’s concerted efforts to improve the lives of the people,” he said.
“Cabinet condemns in the strongest possible terms all acts of corruption and is confident that all wrongdoers will eventually be prosecuted, without fear or favour,” he added.
Cabinet would give law enforcement agencies the resources they need to conduct investigations and prosecution of corruption-related cases without delay, Mthembu said.
He added that Cabinet welcomed the progress made by the inter-ministerial team appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to collate information on all the companies that were awarded contracts to supply PPEs.
