THE syndicates behind the looting frenzy at Tembisa Hospital in Ekurhuleni paid R16m to six hospital clerks, R7.3m to an assistant nurse, and R67m to their managers.
The employees in turn enabled the syndicates to siphon off R2bn in dodgy supplier contracts.
This is according to Special Investigating Unit (SIU) boss Andy Mothibi, who briefed the media yesterday on the unit’s report regarding its investigation into corruption at the hospital. He said 15 employees were involved in corruption, money laundering, collusion and bid rigging to benefit the syndicates.
Hospital managers received substantial payments from various syndicates, allowing them to embezzle over R2bn.
This includes three main syndicates led by tycoons Hangwani Morgan Maumela, who pocketed R816m, and Richard Mazibuko, who scored over R283m. A third syndicate, only identified as Syndicate X, made R596m, while three companies linked to controversial tenderpreneur and attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala scored R14m in tenders from the hospital.
The report revealed that 15 former and current hospital employees, including Gauteng health department workers, were paid over R122m.
In some of the transactions traced through personal bank accounts, an assistant nurse was paid R7,3m by two syndicates, and the money was transferred to the nurse’s family members.
One of the clerks received almost R6,4m, which was also distributed to relatives.
A senior hospital manager received R30m from the Maumela syndicate. A medical staff member also received R750,000 in kickbacks.
Mothibi said corrupt payments linked Syndicate X to 32 accounts associated with current and former health department or Tembisa Hospital officials, totalling R56m.
“The corrupted officials were responsible for identifying the need, sourcing service providers linked to Syndicate X, adjudicating and recommending the appointment of these service providers, approving the appointment of the service providers, certifying compliance with regulations, issuing POs [purchase orders], confirming that goods were delivered, and allowing for payments to be made to the tainted service providers,” said Andy Mothibi, SIU boss.
The SIU said it had prepared 116 disciplinary referrals against officials, of which 108 relating to the irregular appointments of service providers were delivered to the department.
Four corruption matters were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority, while 25 other matters have been sent to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority regarding the non-compliance of service providers who were not licensed to distribute medical supplies.
Mothibi said service providers were appointed using fraudulent documents for a flawed three-quote system.
“This [was] to bypass tender processes, keeping transaction values under R500,000.
This deliberate splitting of orders violated the department’s procurement policy, which prohibits subdividing requirements to evade competitive bidding,” he said.
Mothibi said numerous invoices from suppliers indicated collusion between service providers and officials.
He said separate invoices were generated for similar amounts on the same day or within a short timeframe. A sound procurement process typically includes a purchase request form, fair vendor selection, and adherence to the central supplier database guidelines.
“However, the SIU found that this protocol was circumvented, allowing for further irregularities and concealment of supplier identities. The SIU’s findings indicate severe breaches of trust and authority within Tembisa Hospital’s operations, including fronting and syndicated activities,” he said.
The Maumela syndicate is under investigation over 1,728 procurement bundles worth R816m – money that Maumela used to amass expensive properties in different provinces.
“The SIU identified numerous secondary conduit accounts, which were used to launder funds from the service providers trading with the Tembisa Hospital to the ultimate beneficiary. It would appear that Tembisa Hospital contributed to lavish lifestyles and the acquisition of phenomenal assets,” Mothibi said.
The SIU identified at least six properties with a combined value of R293m linked to Maumela.
These properties include, but are not limited to, a R88,5m house in Bantry Bay in Cape Town, others in Gauteng, and another in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal.
Maumela also bought a fleet of luxury cars, including four Lamborghinis and a Bentley Continental GT V8.
The Mazibuko syndicate splashed out on multiple properties worth R283m in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi told the briefing that the investigations need to be expanded to other hospitals in the province.
“This report is damning and disturbing. It confirms our suspicions that the Tembisa Hospital probe needs to be expanded…From this report, it is clear we need to broaden these investigations to hospitals in other provinces, especially those that had unexplained procurement processes in the past few years.
“There are indications that the same mode of operations is happening at other hospitals in other provinces and, therefore, we need to move with speed,” Lesufi said.
The SIU report noted that during the height of the corruption at Tembisa Hospital, from 2018 to 2020, the expenditure for medical supplies increased significantly from R315m to R598m, while patient intake did not fluctuate significantly.
Image (Andy Mothibi, NPA headhoncho says Tembisa Hospital R2bn dodgy contracts affected the performance of the institution).
