Pro Serve and Thenga Holdings were hired to refurbish the former AngloGold Ashanti West Wits hospital for the government. They had applied to the Special Tribunal for a reconsideration of an interim preservation order obtained by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in September last year. The tribunal was set up by the government to investigate alleged corruption related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The tribunal’s interim order granted the freezing of R1.7 million and R6.2 million, in the two companies’ accounts, pending the determination of the SIU’s review application. The two companies argued that the preservation order was wrongly granted because the SIU did not make out a proper case for it. The SIU, on the other hand, insisted that the preservation order was appropriately granted. Judge Lebogang Modiba of the special tribunal ruled in favour of the SIU and dismissed the companies’ application on Friday, 21 January. In her judgment, Judge Modiba also ordered Thenga to pay the SIU’s costs of filing a replying affidavit to its answering affidavit on the attorney and client scale. This was because the company filed its answering affidavit late without any explanation for the delay, thereby prejudicing the SIU. Among other things, the SIU says the project’s budget was initially estimated at R50 million but esca- lated to 10 times higher with no explanation in place. Pro Serve and Thenga allegedly overcharged the Department.
