Covid-19: Premier Makhura says there will be investigations into all Covid-19 tenders

Gauteng Premier David Makhura hosted the weekly Gauteng Command Council briefing on 13 August to provide an update on the current Covid-19 pandemic within the province.

Makhura said progress can only be made through people taking preventative measures. He added that over the past few days, the number of cases has decreased significantly, however, Makhura emphasised that this is not the end.  “The storm has not passed, it has just slowed down.”

He said the curve is now more elongated, taking place over a longer period of time, which means it is important that people continue to practise social distancing and preventative hygiene measures.

“We are still a highly vulnerable province, it is high-density and our transport mode brings lots of people together so there is still a lot of vulnerability and risk.”

He added that there is still potential for another surge that is even higher than the June/July surge. He said on 23 July, there were 7 000 hospital admissions and now there were about 4 000 hospital admissions. Makhura said while this has decreased, it is still a significant number of people.

He said they need to ensure more resources are directed to repurposing current facilities and ensuring that there are enough resources at these facilities.

“We need to enhance issues around transparency and accountability. Just based  on the devastating impact of the corruption related to PPE, it has eroded public confidence in the provincial  government.”

He said all Covid-19 procurement, not just that of PPE is now under investigation. “Anything we have related to Covid, that includes food and infrastructure, is under a full investigation.

“As the reports come, we will be taking action. We must do that because we want the energy and the focus of this government and the people of our province to be on Covid-19. We are weathering the storm well and we are not getting overwhelmed. But it seems like it will be protracted, so how do we bring more resources not only now but in the future.”

Makhura said the open tender system worked well, however, during the Covid period this system could not be implemented. However, he added that they have now decided to bring back the open tender system and each month the tenders that have been awarded will be published. “Fighting corruption and ensuring there is clean governance is something we are absolutely committed to.”

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