Unregistered Covid-19 drugs returned to Cuba, SANDF tells MPs

After denials and pushbacks by military officials, MPs were told on Wednesday that the irregularly procured Covid-19 drugs have been shipped back to Cuba.

SA National Defence Force (SANDF) chief General Rudzani Maphwanya said the drugs, procured under a R200 million deal with Cuba, were returned following a recommendation by a ministerial task team.

“In line with the recommendations, the SANDF has since complied and sent back the drugs. We are currently writing letters to Sahpra and the Auditor-General as the relevant parties to engage after we complied. We returned all that was required to be returned… we returned all, over and above the 500 thousand [vials] recommended by task team.”

The investigating team, established to investigate the scandalous military Covid-19 purchase, presented its findings to Parliament’s portfolio committee on defence and military veterans. It was discovered after procurement that the military officials got the Cuban drug Heberon Alpha R 2B without approval by the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), and therefore could not use the drugs, resulting in millions in wasteful expenditure.

The SANDF, led by former minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula at the time, came under fire from political parties for spending millions in public funds on unauthorised drugs. Mapisa-Nqakula’s successor Thandi Modise promised that “heads will roll” once the probe was completed.

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MPs were told that Modise couldn’t attend the meeting as she was not feeling well. Her deputy Thabang Makwetla attended.

The task team was led by chairperson Zolile Ngcakani, former head of intelligence services Billy Masetlha and Cassius Lubisi.

Cuba trip

In the first week of February 2020, while the coronavirus was rapidly spreading from China, the now retired Surgeon General Zola Dabula travelled to Cuba where he was alerted by his military counterparts about an immune booster being used by the Cuban defence and the public against coronavirus.

Dabula was accompanied by former head of the HSPCA (Health Professions Council of South Africa) Kgosi Letlape to the south American country mainly to resolve qualification concerns raised by South African medical students studying there. While in Cuba, Dabula was shown around and presented with information on how the drug worked.

He briefed his fellow officials upon arrival back in South Africa, virtual meetings were held with the Cubans discussing the drug. The department of health was never part of the meetings.

In April 2020, Maphwanya’s predecessor General Solly Shoke, who retired last year, signed off the procurement of a batch of the drug for the treatment of 100,000 members of the SANDF.

The SANDF, through its SA Military Health Services (SAMHS), eventually bought more than 900,000 vials. At least R34 million had already been paid to the Cubans, with R180 million outstanding. The three batches were to expire in March, April and July this year. According to Lubisi, the Cubans requested that the batches be sent back so they could be used to inoculate their population before expiration.

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Military officials argued that the procurement was done under the the bilateral agreement between South Africa and Cuba, signed by former defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu and her Cuban counterparts in January 2012, Lubisi told members of the defence committee.

“There is a further argument that at the time the SANDF procured the interferon, Cuba was the sole supplier of the Heberon Alpha R 2B the world over. China, which ordered vast amounts of the drug from Cuba as part of its arsenal against Covid-19, subsequently developed capabilities to manufacture the interferon.”

Defence officials further accused Sahpra of favouring dominant pharmaceutical companies from Europe and the West, while ignoring medicines from countries such as Cuba and China. Lubisi said no evidence of such allegations were found during the investigation.

Sahpra rejected the SANDF application for use of the drug as no additional information requested was forth coming. Several deadlines for clinical trials were never met by the SANDF, leading to Sahpra warning the military officials that the drugs would have to be destroyed as the expiry date was fast approaching.

Waterkloof Airbase ‘not for medicines import‘

The probe also found that the Waterkloof Airforce Base in Pretoria, through which the drugs arrived in the country, was the incorrect point of entry for medicines in the country. The military officials breached the Regulations of Medicines and Substances Act, which states that only the international airports in Cape Town, OR Tambo in Gauteng, King Shaka in KwaZulu-Natal and the airport in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, were the only authorised ports of entry in the Act, Lubisi said.

Furthermore, the report had recommended that SANDF accede to Cuba’s request to return the drugs, and that Modise and her department consider taking action against the officials mentioned in the report.

“This should be accompanied by high-level diplomatic engagement with the Cuban government to manage the possible political fallout that could result from the action. Cuba and South Africa have a long standing diplomatic cooperation in many spheres that spans years back, we think this should be managed at the highest level,” said Lubisi.

Sahpra CEO Boitumelo Semete said the regulator was yet to receive the full report, and could only comment on the presentation.

“We await the full report so we can give a comprehensive response to the presentation. Medicines sector is governed by the Medicines and Related Substances Act, and the military needed to comply with the Act. Regarding the presentation, we would like to correct certain items, but we will wait for the full report.”

The regulator’s chairperson Helen Reese said many countries were looking for an answer to coronavirus in 2020, and had put hope in drugs that were available then.

“The interferon at the time was one of drugs we had hoped would help us, but unfortunately it was found to be ineffective. At the time there was hope….people were looking for resolutions as coronavirus spread across the world.”

NFP MP Malikhaye Shelembe said Modise should urgently appear before the committee to outline her action on the report.

“This is very urgent. People are each and every minute are thinking about how to steal…when soldiers need proper tools to work there is no money, but millions were spent on unusable drugs. We need to ensure that the minister avails herself urgently.”

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