The head of the Hawks special investigative unit (SIU) has expressed his shock at the “flagrant and wanton” disregard shown by individuals in their insatiable pursuit of self-enrichment in Covid-related corruption.
The SIU boss, advocate Andy Mothibi, told a media briefing in Pretoria last Friday that the corruption “cannot go unpunished”.
Mothibi released a detailed 85-page report into the status of its PPE procurement fraud investigations.
Mothibi said investigations to date, which were only about a quarter completed, had revealed clear signs of unfair processes, potential fraud and supply chain management legislation being sidestepped.
Of the R30.7 billion spent by the state on personal protective equipment and other anti-Covid measures between April and November 2020, the SIU is investigating possible corruption involving R13.3 billion.
The SIU is investigating at least 1,774 service providers, of which 141 have been finalised and 777 are still ongoing.
In KwaZulu-Natal the SIU is investigating the contracts of several municipalities, including KwaDukuza.
More allegations are still being made to the SIU, and some cases are still developing, so the figures are expected to change.
According to Mothibi, following the declaration of a State of National Disaster, some service providers quickly registered at the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and were used even though they had no track records.
Some service providers were in the process of deregistration when they were suddenly awarded contracts while others used front companies so that they could be awarded multiple contracts.
Mothibi said that in certain cases “political pressure played a role in the procurement of PPE” and there had been misrepresentations by suppliers by “not disclosing their close friendships with officials who were involved in awarding PPE contracts”.
“My observation is that the flagrant and wanton disregard is underpinned by insatiable pursuit of self-enrichment. That cannot go unpunished,” Mothibi said.
The Democratic Alliance said they were looking forward to the outcome of the SIU investigation into the PPE contracts in KDM, to the value of R4.2 million.
“We are hopeful that from this investigation the municipality will be forced to correct the failing Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes,” the DA said in a statement.
Moosa Motala from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) welcomed the progress report by the SIU to recover stolen funds.
He said last year the IFP had called for a dedicated corruption court to prosecute government officials and political leaders stealing from the public purse.
