How greed nearly brought Tembisa Hospital to its knees
An interim report from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed that over R2 billion was looted from Tembisa Hospital by at least three syndicates.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
A DECLINE in moral integrity, fueled by greed and financial influence are among the factors leading to the “dire” situation at Tembisa Hospital where the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found that more than R2 billion was looted through corruption and fraud.
“When we allow greed, ambitions of greed and allow ourselves to be susceptible to financial influences, it really leads to a situation of not just us oppressing ourselves in terms of ceding to this immorality, but has a great impact on the patients and the communities and that in itself is such a moral abomination.
“So, not only are these individuals oppressing themselves with their own immorality and the way that they are actually choosing to behave, but they are also causing incredible damage to the entire health care system because as one hospital falls, another falls and another under the same weight of corruption,” said occupational therapist Dr Fatima Hendricks.
An interim report from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed that over R2 billion was looted from Tembisa Hospital by three identified syndicates.
Image: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers
Speaking at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Westville Campus, Hendricks emphasised the importance of understanding South African politics, especially concerning land expropriation, gentrification, and political power distribution.
“As healthcare professionals, we need to be in those spaces of political engagement, or we will be on the sidelines and healthcare decisions will be made for us. We need to be in leadership so that things like Tembisa don’t happen,” Hendricks said.
The SIU interim report uncovered procurement fraud and serious maladministration in an analysis of 2 207 procurement bundles.
Key officials from the Gauteng Department of Health (GDOH) and Tembisa Hospital were implicated in alleged corrupt payments. These payments allegedly facilitated the irregular appointment of service providers, involving money laundering and fraud through fronting and the use of false Supply Chain Management documentation.
The investigation currently involves 207 service providers which traded with the Tembisa Hospital under 4,501 purchase orders (PO). Each PO is reportedly linked to a three-quote procurement process involving three competing bidders. The total value of the matters under investigation by the SIU, as per the Proclamation, amounts to more than R2 billion.
Corrupt payments amounting to more than R122 million were linked to officials and employees of the GDOH and Tembisa Hospital.
Hendricks used her address to also recount her experiences of being held captive by Israel after Israeli Occupation Forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla.
“We need to open up and be ambitious in our mobilisation, ambitious in our careers, so that we get into leadership positions that are not just academic, but out in the public health care sector and public sector at broad, so that we can offer the type of leadership that we see is lacking.”
Cape Times