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THE SPECIAL Investigation Unit (SIU) probe into the contracts awarded by the Department of Health to service provider Digital Vibes was ongoing, the corruption-busting entity’s head Andy Mothibi said.
Briefing Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts on Wednesday, Mothibi said their investigators have been going through the procurement process that was conducted in the department.
The department’s own preliminary probe has found that the procurement process was irregular.
“The investigation is still ongoing. In respect of the aspects of the investigation, we have determined the accountability levels of who was involved in the actual procurement. The referrals will be made to the department,” Mothibi said.
He said they would also look at various allegations that were made in respect of other officials in the department, the executive authority, who happens to be Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, and the service provider.
“I am really constrained to go into detail. We are investigating all those allegations and the investigation is going well,” Mothibi said.
In his presentation to the committee earlier, Mothibi told the MPs that R145 billion was allocated for Covid-19 relief and R122bn was spent by national departments and provinces between April 2020 and March 2021.
He also said a further R4.5bn was spent by municipalities during the same period.
Mothibi stated that out of the R126.7bn spent in Covid-19 relief, the value of the alleged irregular contracts under the SIU investigation totalled R14.3bn.
He also said of the R14.3bn under investigation, about R614.3m has already been referred to the Special Tribunal in order to set the contracts aside and recover losses.
Mothibi added that R112.4m was not under investigation.
– Political Bureau
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