Gauteng Health officials to face the music over bogus PPE tenders

Top Gauteng Health officials are due to face the provincial standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) over allegations that the department allegedly awarded personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders to bogus companies.

This was revealed by Gauteng Scopa chairperson Sochayile “Sox” Khanyile after his committee received a report which detailed how the department awarded PPE tenders to service providers with no known history and capacity of supplying PPE. On Moday, Khanyile said his committee had received reports from the A-G’s office and a report on Gauteng Health was one of them.

“Scopa will sit on Friday to consider the other reports tabled by the A-G. The meeting will also determine a date on when Gauteng Health is due to appear before it. It is mostly likely to be in March,” Khanyile said. The latest findings of the office of the Auditor-General followed the release of the Special Report on the Covid-19 audit which was tabled before Scopa in the Gauteng provincial legislature last week.

The findings corroborate the latest court actions undertaken by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) in its bid to recover the funds which were allegedly awarded to the service providers. The A-G’s report found that there were no specifications indicated on awards and submissions. It also found that the officials tasked to award those tenders made payments for goods higher than National Treasury instructions.

The report also said that the officials failed to submit evidence to support deviations which were a result of emergency procurement. “Contracts awarded to service providers with no known history of supplying personal protective equipment (PPE). Reasons for deviations not recorded and approved as per the delegation of authority. No declaration of interest by the winning bidders,” the report stated.

The report further stated that all four health-care facilities - Leratong Hospital, Helen Joseph Hospital, Jubilee Hospital and George Mukhari Academic Hospital - had indicated that they had not received any guidance from the department on how to determine their re-order levels and/or to calculate their re-order quantities for PPE stock from the bulk storage facilities. The report further said no procedures or instructions were received from the department for re-ordering/requesting PPE from the bulk storage facilities.

“Storage areas for PPE were not sufficient to store all the Covid-19 PPEs. All four health-care facilities had space challenges when storing Covid-19 PPEs. As a result, the facilities did not have sufficient space to carry the Covid-19 PPE. At three of the four health-care facilities - Leratong Hospital, Jubilee Hospital and Helen Joseph Hospital - it was indicated that there were instances when the bulk storage facilities could not fulfil the requests for PPE stock in a complete manner.

“Stock-outs or low stock levels were identified. This was due to the required stock items not being available at the bulk storage facilities,” the report found. The report also found that the department did not invite as many suppliers as possible and there was no prior approval from the relevant treasury for the emergency procurement of the Nasrec Field Hospital, as required by treasury regulations.

“At the Eskom Academy of Learning quarantine facility, a lack of human resources was noted during the site visit performed. There was a shortage of nurses to care for the number of patients accommodated at the quarantine facility. “There was also additional administrative staff needed at the facility as one administration staff was not sufficient to cater for the needs of the number of patients accommodated at the facility,” the A-G found.

Commenting on the A-G’s report, DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said the Nasrec facility had cost more than R200 million and had largely empty beds, even at the peak of Covid-19.

“Every year, the Auditor-General makes the same depressing findings about poor controls and lack of accountability. Strong political will is needed to ensure that his recommendations are carried out, otherwise wastage and corruption will continue at the expense of health care,” Bloom said.