Madonsela asked to probe clinic tender

A second political party - the Democratic Alliance (DA) - on Tuesday asked the Public Protector to investigate a tender that resulted in the KwaZulu-Natal health department paying R52.5 million to lease lorries and trailers for three years. File photo: Motshwari Mofokeng

A second political party - the Democratic Alliance (DA) - on Tuesday asked the Public Protector to investigate a tender that resulted in the KwaZulu-Natal health department paying R52.5 million to lease lorries and trailers for three years. File photo: Motshwari Mofokeng

Published Aug 4, 2015

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 Durban - A second political party – the Democratic Alliance (DA) – on Tuesday asked the Public Protector to investigate a tender that resulted in the KwaZulu-Natal health department paying R52.5 million to lease one lorry and a trailer for three years.

The DA’s request for an investigation into the R61 million tender for two mobile hospital clinics follows that of the Inkatha Freedom Party that was lodged towards the end of June this year.

The now defunct South African Press Association (Sapa), reported in January that the KwaZulu-Natal health department had awarded the R61 million tender to two companies – Mzansi Lifecare and Mobile Satellite Technologies.

Mzansi Lifecare was awarded a tender to lease a truck and trailer, equipped with a standard X-ray machine and ultrasound, to the department for R52.5 million.

At the end of the lease period in 2016, the department will not own the lorry.

The DA’s request follows an unsuccessful attempt by the party to obtain information on the lease through a Public Access to Information (PAI) application.

In the letter which Dr Imran Keeka wrote to Advocate Thuli Madonsela, Keeka claimed that KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo had failed to answer parliamentary questions and also ignored questions submitted to Madonsela during the provincial health debate. The African News Agency (ANA) has a copy of this letter in its possession.

He said that the department had repeatedly failed to acknowledge the DA’s PAI application.

“I am led to believe that the tender referred to hereinabove, was irregularly awarded. Since all of the steps taken have yielded nothing and have either been avoided or evaded, it must be deduced that my initial belief is substantiated,” said Keeka in the letter to the Public Protector.

At the time the IFP submitted its request in June, the party’s health spokeswoman Ncamisile Nkwanyana said she was convinced that the tender was irregular.

“How is it that a company that did not exist 17 days prior to the request for information suddenly wins a R52 million lease?” Nkwanyana asked in her letter to Madonsela.

She also questioned why the lease never attracted the attention of the Auditor-General and how the exorbitant amount could be considered reasonable.

At the time, the lease was first revealed by Sapa, it was reported that a company in Ohio, United States, could manufacture and deliver four trucks and trailers for the same price as the three-year lease.

LifeLine Mobile’s vice president Richard M. Dinse told ANA that apart from owning the four vehicles, the department would also receive a tent for each vehicle and staff training. The company would also provide a warranty for the vehicles.

Mzansi Lifecare has maintained that it bid fairly for the tender, and that it had done nothing wrong.

Oupa Segalwe, spokesman for the Public Protector, confirmed that the DA’s request had been received.

ANA

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