Johannesburg – The Presidency has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has received the final report of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into allegations of corruption by parties in the public and private sectors in the procurement of personal protective equipment at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ramaphosa’s acting spokesperson Tyrone Seale said the Presidency was studying the report and would keep the public abreast of developments.
“The Presidency will do so in a manner that preserves information that may be or become the subject of prosecution, civil action or disciplinary proceedings.
“It is expected the SIU report will contain information on matters that have been referred to the National Prosecutions Authority for prosecution; matters that have been referred to relevant departments or entities for disciplinary steps to be taken against their employees, and what monies have been recouped by the SIU,” Seale said.
He said the SIU was empowered in law to take these steps in the course of its work and as soon as it deems fit.
Earlier, the SIU revealed that the Gauteng provincial government had the highest reported allegations of corruption regarding PPE tenders.
The SIU made these revelations on Thursday when it urged citizens to play an active role in preventing and exposing corruption.
The call also came as the international community was celebrating the 2021 International Anti-Corruption Day.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said corruption and maladministration in the affairs of government departments, municipalities and State-Owned Entities were depriving the public of valuable resources.
Kganyago said preventing and exposing corruption makes it possible for the government to invest public resources in building and maintaining public infrastructure, and increasing access to basic services like water and sanitation, healthcare and education.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, the SIU recovered financial losses suffered by the State to the value of R1.8 billion, prevented losses to the tune of R2.7 billion, and set aside administrative decisions and contracts amounting to R7.1 billion. The money could have been lost to corruption had no one bothered to blow the whistle.
During the Financial Year 2020/21, the SIU received a total of 1 276 allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of government institutions. A total of 410 allegations were concerning the affairs of the national government, followed by Gauteng and Limpopo provinces with 258 and 128, respectively.
The SIU received 114 corruption allegations from KwaZulu Natal and 104 from Eastern Cape. There were 70 allegations from the North West, 65 from Western Cape, 57 from Free State and 52 from Mpumalanga. People of the Northern Cape only reported 18 allegations of corruption to the SIU.
“It was through the work of brave and caring South Africans that the SIU managed to motivate for President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign Proclamation R23 of 2020 authorising it to investigate allegations of corruption, maladministration and payments made in relation to the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by State institutions.
“As a result, the SIU managed to investigate scooter ambulances tender in the Eastern Cape and have the tender declared invalid and unlawful, awarding of irregular tender for the construction of Talana shacks in Limpopo, costly disinfection of Gauteng schools, Digital Vibes communication tender and irregular PPE procurement in the Gauteng Department of Health,” Kganyago said.
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POLITICAL BUREAU