President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday authorised the release to the public of the final report of the investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into procurement by all spheres of the government with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The SIU has investigated 5 467 contracts awarded to 3 066 service providers with a total value of R14.3 billion.
Investigations have been finalised with respect to 4 549 contracts, of which 2 803 contracts were found to be irregular.
This amounts to 62% of the finalised investigations.
“The submission of the final report is an important step in our fight against corruption in the public and private sectors, and against maladministration,” said Ramaphosa.
“This investigation targeted individuals and institutions who believed they could exploit a moment of national vulnerability to enrich themselves and those with whom they colluded to abuse public resources.
“It is unacceptable that so many contracts associated with saving lives and protecting livelihoods were irregular, unlawful or fraudulent.
“This investigation demonstrates our determination to root out corruption and to deal with perpetrators.”
The final report details matters referred by the SIU to the National Prosecuting Authority, departments and entities in the public sector and other parties, who will finalise the process of bringing wrongdoers to book and addressing weaknesses identified by the SIU investigation.
Since the start of the investigation, the SIU, working with other agencies, has made progress in managing consequences arising from the investigation.
Forty-five matters – constituting a combined value of R2.1 billion – have been enrolled with the Special Tribunal on Corruption, Fraud and Illicit Money Flows.
The Special Tribunal has a statutory mandate to recover public funds siphoned from the fiscus through corruption, fraud and illicit money flows, and engages in civil action that is more flexible and less time-consuming than adversarial.
The SIU has made 224 referrals for disciplinary action against officials in government departments or entities.
It also made 386 referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority, as well as three referrals for Executive Action.
The SIU has made 330 referrals for Administrative Action, which includes blacklisting.
The rand value of actual cash and assets to be recovered on the basis of the investigation is R551.5 million, while cash and assets recovered to date total R34.2 million.
The value of potential loss prevented by the investigation is R114.2 million, while contracts set aside amount to R170.4 million.
The report on the procurement of goods, works and services associated with Covid-19 published Tuesday does not include details of ongoing investigations into allegations received by the SIU after the timeline set for matters to be included in the final report.
The Report: https://bit.ly/3rHXQrI
The Annexure: https://bit.ly/3Iy89p4
