The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has welcomed the report by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) into the procurement of goods and services related to COVID-19 pandemic.
The progress report on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) corruption released on Friday revealed that it’s investigating contracts worth over R13 billion.
The EFF says the report shows deep-rooted disregard for laws and administrative processes by officials across the various departments.
It also says officials and politicians saw an opportunity in the pandemic that threatened lives and left many including health care workers exposed and looted much-needed resources to the pandemic.
The EFF says the report shows that COVID-19 expenditure between April to November 2020 amounted to R30.7 billion.
It says R10.3 billion is currently under investigation by SIU and R250 million has been referred to the Special Tribunal to set the contracts aside and recover stolen monies.
The party says the money stolen was meant to buy PPEs for health care workers and food parcels for the most vulnerable.
The EFF has also accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of not taking action against those implicated in the PPEs scandal.
SIU media briefing on investigations into alleged COVID-19 PPEs:
On Friday SIU said it has found that money acquired through corruption related to the procurement of PPE quickly changes hands and in many cases, making it difficult to follow the paper trail.
There have been allegations of corruption related to the procurement of PPEs in several provinces.
Top government officials have been implicated for PPE corruption.
Meanwhile the ANC’s disciplinary hearing of former Gauteng Health MEC Doctor Bandile Masuku and Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko resumed on Saturday.
The disciplinary hearing comes after the two were allegedly involved in a scandal related to the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment in Gauteng.
ANC Gauteng Secretary-General Jacob Khawe has been leading the party’s investigations into the two members of the Provincial Executive Committee.
Masuku, his wife Loyiso, and Diko were hauled before the party’s integrity commission in July 2020, over a multi-million-rand tender that the provincial Health Department had given Diko’s husband.
In this video below, Gauteng Premier David Makhura fireds Health MEC, Bandile Masuku:
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