News24 | ‘Deokaran died to expose looting’: Parties demand justice after SIU report on Tembisa Hospital

• The SIU revealed Tembisa Hospital corruption involving officials and service providers, costing R2bn, with probes linking activities to syndicates and political ties.
• Babita Deokaran's whistleblowing uncovered irregular payments and corruption, and political parties demand justice for her murder and the stolen healthcare funds.
• Politicians urge action, prosecution, and accountability for implicated officials, with calls for systemic reforms in South Africa's health sector.

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health, ANC MP Sibongiseni Dhlomo, says the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) findings about corruption are concerning and has welcomed the referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

On Monday, the SIU released an interim report into the investigation at Tembisa Hospital, revealing that coordinated syndicates involving officials and service providers looted R2 billion from the hospital.

The SIU found that at least 15 current and former officials were involved in activities ranging from corruption, money laundering, and collusion to bid rigging with improperly appointed service providers.

According to the SIU, the number of identified officials is expected to rise as the investigation continues.

The SIU probe flowed from the rot initially exposed by murdered Gauteng health department whistleblower Babita Deokaran.

News24’s investigative team then exposed much of the syndicates’ operations and their ties to the ANC.

Dhlomo said in a statement that the committee viewed the SIU’s findings as serious and very concerning.

He said that the findings revealed acts of criminality, which were a profound breach of public confidence and an unacceptable diversion of much-needed health resources from the most vulnerable members of society.

Dhlomo welcomed the SIU’s ongoing efforts to identify implicated officials and recover stolen funds.

He said:

Dhlomo also welcomed the referral of matters to the National Prosecuting Authority and other law enforcement agencies.

“The committee will monitor the progress of this closely to ensure that accountability is upheld at all levels. It is only through decisive corrective action that public confidence in the healthcare system can be restored.”

He said the committee would engage with the Department of Health and the SIU to receive further briefings on the findings and progress of this investigation.

“The law should take its course for those implicated”.

He added that the committee would continue to exercise its oversight role to ensure that such abuses were not repeated and that the integrity of the health system was safeguarded in the interest of all South Africans.

Dhlomo was the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health when it refused to investigate former health minister Zweli Mkhize over Digital Vibes.

READ | Unlocking Tembisa: R122m in kickbacks paid to crooked Gauteng health dept officials

DA MP and justice spokesperson Glynnis Breytenbach said while her party welcomed the SIU report, “justice can only be done by investigating and prosecuting the masterminds behind the scandal and putting them behind bars”.

“Justice hangs in the balance and it is up to the SAPS and NPA to tip the scales in favour of the rule of law. There has never been a more critical time for these institutions to start doing their jobs,” she said.

“It is an atrocity that the SAPS and NPA have become synonymous with delayed investigations and bungled prosecutions. The report by the SIU is worth as much as the paper it is written on without the SAPS and NPA doing their part in bringing those responsible to justice.”

Breytenbach said the looting of Tembisa Hospital clearly involved “role players in very high places”, and that all those implicated must be held accountable, regardless of their position.

“We will not accept another cover-up, where low ranking criminals are sent to prison and the masterminds go free,” she said.

“Babita Deokaran died to expose the looting at Tembisa, and four years later we still don’t know who gave the order for her assassination. The SAPS can’t (or won’t) find the masterminds behind her murder and the NPA can’t (or won’t) prosecute those responsible for industrial scale of corruption at the hospital.”

She said the DA would not accept a failed investigation or derailed prosecution of those responsible for Deokaran’s death and the looting of R2 billion of taxpayer money.

She said the DA was demanding that the police investigate the corruption and cover-up at Tembisa Hospital and make arrests where appropriate, and that the NPA had to prosecute the crimes that were committed in the looting and ensuing cover-up.

“No more delays, no more failures, no more excuses.”

READ | SIU finds R2bn was extracted from Tembisa Hospital

The EFF said in a statement that the SIU’s findings “confirm that the collapse of public health infrastructure is the result of a criminal alliance between politicians, senior officials, and syndicates, not vulnerable foreign nationals”.

“The revelations implicate not only lower-level officials but also figures linked to the highest office in the land. Contracts worth at least R415 million were linked to companies associated with Hangwani Maumela, who is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s nephew.

“These irregular contracts were among those flagged by the late whistleblower Babita Deokaran, whose assassination in 2021 was directly tied to her courageous efforts to expose this looting.”

The EFF also noted that Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, an alleged crony of suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, was involved in the syndicates.

The party said:

“What happened at Tembisa is happening across South Africa’s health system, where mafias have captured supply chains while government leaders benefit directly.

“We are not shocked, but we are outraged that Babita Deokaran was killed for exposing the truth, that our very own president’s family are implicated in stealing from hospitals while the poor are told there is no budget for healthcare; and that the suffering of our people has been used as an opportunity for elites and syndicates to enrich themselves.”

Ramaphosa has previously distanced himself from Maumela.

READ | Silenced: Why Babita Deokaran was murdered

ActionSA MP Kgosi Letlape, who serves on the Portfolio Committee on Health, said in a statement that his party also demanded “urgent action against those implicated in the looting of over R2 billion from Tembisa Hospital, exposed in the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) interim report released today”.

“This is more than corruption. It is the theft of healthcare from the most vulnerable. While patients died or suffered awaiting treatment, corrupt actors exploited Gauteng Health Department procurement systems for their own profit. They must be held to the fullest extent of the law, barred forever from state contracts, and forced to return every rand stolen,” he said.

“Despite strong SIU findings, accountability remains stalled. Government continues to drag its feet while implicated suppliers remain free to win state contracts. It is for this reason that ActionSA has lodged a complaint with the Public Protector to enforce implementation of SIU recommendations and compel decisive consequence management.

“Looting healthcare budgets isn’t a technical crime but one that kills people. Patients were denied quality care while funds were syphoned off. ActionSA will continue to fight to ensure that every asset is seized, every perpetrator prosecuted, and the dignity of those who rely on public health is defended.”

ALSO READ | Babita Deokaran tried to stop 'secret' Tembisa Hospital payments to ANC leader

FF Plus MP and health spokesperson Philip van Staden said in a statement that the SIU report showed how deep corruption was entrenched in health departments and how it robbed the public of effective health care.

He said the FF Plus had always warned that maladministration and corruption were the “cancer that is destroying public health care in South Africa and that the perpetrators should be arrested and locked up if guilty”.

“Syndicates are the only ones benefiting from these corrupt activities, while people die in public hospitals due to the many shortages in the sector that lead to poor or no services being delivered,” he added.

Van Staden also noted that Deokaran had paid with her life to blow the whistle on this and expressed the hope that the investigations would be concluded speedily and that the perpetrators would pay for their deeds.