SIUpping up the mess

We must give credit where credit is due [View this email in your browser]( November 24, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, Cleaning can be a dirty business. Just ask the Gauteng education department, which supposedly leaked more than R431-million to sanitise its schools last year. And that didn’t even go to professionals, instead it appointed hundreds of companies with no experience in the field of sanitation. The national department of health and the basic education department did not recommend these decontamination exercises. Still it happened. For 431-million reasons. Beneath the grime, the true kicker has now been revealed. Some of those not-so-esteemed companies were appointed over WhatsApp. While you were sending cat gifs, others were securing tenders. This has now been revealed by a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation, which forms part of a special tribunal hearing scheduled for today. The unit wants [the tenders declared invalid and unlawful](. It’s been a hugely busy two years for the SIU. [It has recovered cash and assets worth at least R1.8-billion]( in the past financial year, according to the unit’s recent presentation of its annual report to parliament’s portfolio committee on justice and correctional services. The SIU received a clean audit opinion from the auditor general during the 2020-21 financial year, its fifth consecutive such audit. According to SIU boss, advocate Andy Mothibi, the unit has also handed at least 15 investigative reports to President Cyril Ramaphosa for consideration. With all manner of cons and schemes implemented during the chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is heartening to see people doing their jobs and routing malfeasance. Here’s a not-at-all comprehensive list, in no particular order, of some of the investigations being conducted or concluded by the SIU. Perhaps the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) [will take note and act accordingly](. Khusela Diko The SIU has allegedly [struggled to get former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko to answer questions]( relating to fresh Digital Vibes allegations against her. The SIU, in a report that was initially sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa in July, had found that Digital Vibes, the controversial communications company that received an allegedly irregular R132-million contract from the national health department, had doled out about R90.4-million to politically connected people, including R1-million to Royal Bhaca. Now the M&G has established that there are fresh allegations that R1-million paid to Royal Bhaca made its way to Diko, which has required the SIU to reopen the Digital Vibes investigation. Eskom The SIU told the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services last week that its preliminary investigations found that at least 102 Eskom officials were implicated in illegal business dealings. More than R5-billion had reportedly been paid to them. Chief national investigations officer Leonard Lekgetho insisted: “We have done a lot in terms of uncovering some of the corruption we have seen within Eskom.” UIF/Ters With the job losses and salary cuts last year came an opportunity for unscrupulous business owners to exploit workers and make a quick buck. According to the SIU’s chief forensic investigator, Johnny le Roux, a company owner [used more than 1 000 ID numbers to defraud]( the temporary employer-employee relief scheme (Ters), managed by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), of more than R100-million. Le Roux told the National Assembly’s standing committee of public accounts — parliament’s financial watchdog — that the UIF was the victim of fraud by companies and state employees. “During the investigating period, a total of 13 447 006 employees received Ters payments or benefits from the UIF. These employees were linked to at least 1 156 565 companies and employers and a total of R57 384 148 010 was paid out by the UIF since the inception of the scheme.” The SIU probed government employees, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members, prison inmates and the IDs of dead people being used to claim from the relief fund. Phase one of the investigation, which began on 1 June, focused on individuals who received Ters benefits while employed by the state. It is expected to be completed by the end of this month. SANDF The SIU has finalised a probe into personal protective equipment (PPE) corruption and fraud in the SANDF, with its findings revealing more than 10 contracts, involving a total of R274-million. Zakheni Strategic Supplies, whose director Tembile Sangoni has already been implicated in the scandal involving Royal Bhaca, is one of the companies that benefited from the SANDF contracts. Royal Bhaca is the company owned by the late husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s former spokesperson, Khusela Diko. David Makhura Gauteng Premier David Makhura [may find himself footing the bill for more than R42.8-million]( in alleged Covid-19 procurement corruption because he “failed to prevent officials of the Gauteng provincial government [from] acting unlawfully in awarding contracts”. This was the contention made by former Gauteng health department chief financial officer Kabelo Lehloenya, who faced a Special Tribunal hearing related to her allegedly corrupt role in the province’s awarding of PPE contracts to combat the coronavirus at the start of the pandemic last year. The SIU, which has brought the civil claim before the tribunal, seeks to recover money that was allegedly illegally awarded to Ledla Structural Development and Beadica 430 for the procurement of surgical masks, face masks and hand sanitisers, among other items. Sassa After invoicing and being paid for work not done, four businesspeople in the Eastern Cape defrauded the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), but were quickly busted by the SIU, working in conjunction with the Hawks and the NPA. Vusumzi Rapiya, Aubrey Gqezengele, Mzamo and Noxolo Pono, in their capacities as directors of A&V Holdings and SUV & Spokie Trading, appeared before the East London specialised commercial crime court on charges of fraud and corruption. The case was postponed to 6 December and bail set at R1 000 each. The four colluded with the Sassa project manager for a local office improvement project in the process of the planning and construction of the KwaNobuhle Sassa office in the Eastern Cape to defraud the agency. More arrests are expected in this investigation. Nkandla The SIU is seeking to recoup some of the R246-million spent on upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead and wants architect Minenhle Makhanya to pay back about R155-million for the taxpayer-funded upgrades. Among the controversial upgrades were an amphitheatre, a swimming pool — the now infamous “fire pool”, a helipad, a chicken run and fencing. Road Agency Limpopo In March, the president amended proclamation R12 of 2018 — authorising the SIU to look into the affairs of Roads Agency Limpopo — to include the procurement of or contracting of goods on behalf of the agency and payment made that was not fair or cost-effective relating to 21 contracts. Irregularities were found and the unit will institute civil litigation to recover funds amounting to R2.3-million and for the Asset Forfeiture Unit to recover assets valued at about R84-million. AngloGold Hospital In September, the Special Tribunal granted the SIU an order to freeze R7.9-million held in bank accounts of companies that were irregularly awarded tenders by the Gauteng health department to refurbish the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital near Carletonville for Covid-19 purposes. [Subscribe now]( South Africa’s problems may sometimes seem like a clown car emptying, but we must give credit where credit is due. Because of the work of the SIU, we can say that all is not lost. Yours in solidarity, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.