Durban - A committee of ministers, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, will probe allegations of corruption related to Covid-19 tenders.
The investigation includes the fraudulent distribution of food parcels, social relief grants, procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies, and the looting of the UIF’s Covid-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (Ters).
Ramaphosa, on Thursday, ordered all government departments to urgently produce lists of all tenders and contracts that had been awarded in national and provincial departments and public entities during the period of the national State of Disaster.
He said the lists must be provided to the committee “as a matter of urgency” this week so that it could prepare a comprehensive report that he intended releasing for “public information”.
Ramaphosa also indicated that he intended to make the list, which would detail the names of businesses and individuals who had benefited from government contracts, available to the public.
The committee will be headed by Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola, and will investigate the procurement of goods and services sourced for the purpose of containing and responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The committee also comprises Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni, Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu, Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu.
The Presidency said the Cabinet’s decision reinforced Ramaphosa’s determination expressed in his national address on July23 “that there should be no theft, no wastage and no mismanagement of public funds” as the country fought Covid-19.
The president warned that the consequences for people, whether in the public or private sector, who broke the law would be severe. He said citizens required nothing less than full accountability from elected officials.
“The Cabinet decision will support other measures to detect corrupt activities, including the proclamation signed on July23, 2020, authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe any unlawful or improper conduct in the procurement of any goods, works and services during or related to the national State of Disaster in any state institution,” the Presidency said.
At a media briefing last night, Lamola said the Cabinet had “reflected with disappointment” on recent reports of corruption and theft of resources intended to save lives and livelihoods.
“Some unscrupulous individuals and companies have been looting state resources that were meant to provide food to needy families and PPE to front-line officials, particularly health-care workers. Such criminal and immoral activities included inflating quoted prices, intercepting and redirecting food parcels meant for the poor, and acts of fraud involving funds designated to alleviate the hardship of employees and businesses affected by the shutting down of economic activities during the national lockdown,” Lamola said.
He said the Cabinet had called on all public institutions “to uphold the highest standards of integrity and accountability”.
“The Cabinet remains committed to building a capable, ethical and developmental state. It supports the recent call by President Ramaphosa for law-enforcement agencies to arrest those involved in corruption, irrespective of who they are, and to ensure they recover the looted funds,” he said.
He added that the Cabinet welcomed the announcement that at least 36 corruption-related cases were at various stages of investigation and prosecution.
“These cases send a strong message that the government will not tolerate any acts of corruption, particularly among its officials, and that all perpetrators will be prosecuted,” he said.
Lamola said the move was not merely “lip service” and the lists of contracts would help the committee to support law enforcement agencies with easy access to information for their investigations.
“If there is any allegation the law-enforcement agencies are not empowered to act without fear or favour or prejudice to anyone in society, whether he is a minister, a deputy director general, a chief executive, a low-ranging official in a municipality or in the private sector, the message from the Cabinet is they must act without fear or favour.
“They must do the job, they are freed, the Cabinet says it is constitutionally guaranteed, nobody will interfere with the job of law enforcement agencies,” Lamola added.
“The SIU is empowered to probe any allegations relating to the misuse of Covid-19 funds across all spheres of the state, and to institute civil proceedings to recover any damages or losses incurred by the state.
“To ensure that action is taken speedily, the president will receive interim reports on investigations every six weeks. He will also get reports from the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum that is tasked to investigate irregularities in the health sector,” Lamola added.
He said the Cabinet had welcomed amendments to the original regulations of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of state.
The amended regulations allowed for the sharing of information by the commission with other law-enforcement agencies, which will help to expedite the investigation and prosecution of corruption-related cases.
The Mercury