CAPE CITY (Reuters) – The South African government is investigating government departments for grafting irregularities in the five billion rand ($290 million) coronavirus tenders, the head of its Special Investigation Unit (SIU) told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The figure is most likely due to pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling African National Congress, who have struggled to deflect complaints from alliance partners and opposition parties amid corruption allegations involving high-ranking NAC politicians.
Ramaphosa, who replaced his predecessor in the Jacob Zuma scandal in 2017 with promises to eliminate corruption, has struggled to eliminate the combat-like crime opposed to COVID-19 in South Africa, which has the fifth number of coronavirus infections in the world with 592,144..
In a presentation to a parliamentary committee, ANDy Mothibi, head of the SIU, which is investigating accusations opposing public sector figures or institutions, said he ran in 658 cases across the country involving just over five billion rands, the first time a number was indicated.about the alleged graft.
The provincial fitness branch of the central province of Gauteng, the economic center and johannesburg headquarters accounted for just under a portion of the total, with 2.2 billion rands, Mothibi added.
“Reports reported to the SIU similar to the acquisition of PPE (personal protective devices), hospitals and quarantine sites, food catering (food packages), fans, disinfection appliances and motorized wheelchairs,” he said.
Reporting through Wendell Roelf; edited through Barbara Lewis
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