Gauteng Premier David Makhura cleared of PPE tender corruption

The Special Tribunal has cleared Gauteng Premier David Makhura of any wrongdoing in the awarding of personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts by the provincial department of health.

This after the premier said last week he would correct an “error” made in the judgment of 10 December 2020 by Judge SP Mothle, in which he stated that Kabelo Lehloenya – the former chief financial officer at the department – deposed an affidavit that claimed that the premier gave her names of companies to be appointed as service providers for PPE tenders worth millions.

ALSO READ: Judge made an ‘error’ alleges Makhura on PPE scandal

In a statement on Tuesday, Makhura said the judge corrected the error on Monday.

“On 27 January 2021, Premier David Makhura made an application to the Special Tribunal in terms of rule 42 to seek correction on the paragraphs 14 and 24 of the Tribunal judgment to include the words ‘office of’ before the word ‘Premier’. Judge Mothle has since corrected the error,” read the statement.

Makhura has always maintained that he never gave any list of companies to be awarded contracts. He said that the judge made an error by stating something that was not in the affidavit.

In the corrected judgment, Mothle stated: “I have on receipt of the premier’s application, realised that the omission of the word ‘office of’ before ‘the premier’ and ‘the MEC’ in the judgment text is capable of being construed to mean that the Tribunal has found or decided that it was the premier personally, or the MEC [Bandile Masuku] personally, who supplied the names. There was no such decision or finding made on the allegations…”

The judgment further stated that the premier’s application to insert the omitted words in the said paragraphs of the ruling was granted.

Makhura said he was happy that the statement has been corrected and made it clear that there were no allegations made against him in the procurement of PPE.

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