Gauteng Health Officials Not Facing Criminal Charges for R500 Million Telkom Tender Scandal

Friday, July 30, 2021 at 3:46 PM by Lebogang Mashego

Health MEC in Gauteng Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi says the six officials who illegally awarded Telkom a R500 million tender are not facing criminal charges
Mokgethi stated that one was given a written warning while the others were made to resign from their position
Mokhethi stated that the Department of Health launched 12 different investigations into allegations of corruption in the department

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Six former Gauteng Health officials who unlawfully gave Telkom an R500 million data storage contract were let off the hook for their actions.

The Gauteng Department of Health allowed the officials to resign from their positions and did not bring forward any criminal charges against them, according to a report by IOL.

Gauteng Health Officials, no Criminal Charges, R500 million Telkom Tender Scandal, V-block data storage facility — Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi says the six health officials implicated in the unlawful Telkom tender contract were made to resign instead of facing criminal charges. Image: Waldo Swiegers
Source: Getty Images

This revelation comes after the Democratic Alliance's Health spokesperson Jack Bloom asked the Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi how far along the investigations into the health officials were.

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Mokgethi stated that the department instituted 12 investigations from different companies into the allegations of fraud and corruption in the department of health and so far only four companies had concluded their investigations.

The four completed investigations, according to Mokgethi, were connected to fraudulent deposits at Tambo Memorial Hospital, fraudulent MVA operations at Thelle Mogoerane, procurement issues at Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and the IT Infrastructure at V-Block.

Mokgethi stated that on the concluded investigations none of the individuals implicated has any criminal charges brought against them, instead, some were made to resign and others were given final written warnings.

In 2017, it was revealed that the R500 million contract to Telkom for the massive V-Block data storage facility was wasted expenditure due to the reason that the e-governance service’s storage facility was capable of handling the department's data storage and should have been used instead, according to Emintera.

Digital Vibes scandal: SIU refers Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and son Dedani to NPA for possible charges

In other news, Briefly News reported that Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and his son Dedani could possibly face criminal charges for their involvement in the Digital Vibes corruption scandal. They have been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Special Investigating Unit and could face charges of corruption for suspicious payments they allegedly received from the company.

Mkhize is said to have received R6 720 for maintenance at his Bryanston home while his son Dedani is said to have received R3.8 million from Digital Vibes.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has filed court papers with the Special Tribunal on Thursday where they stated that they had every intention to retrieve the R150 million that was erroneously awarded to Digital Vibes, according to a report by TimesLIVE.