Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng leader, Solly Msimang, has accused the province’s Premier David Makhura of letting officials implicated in stealing personal protective equipment (PPE) money off the hook.
Msimanga on Thursday said, “the DA in Gauteng is challenging” Gauteng Premier Makhura “to reveal the actions that he has taken against the Gauteng PPE looters.”
The DA leader pointed to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report which says no recommendations could be made against the Chief Financial Officer of the Gauteng Department of Health (DoH) Kabelo Lehloenya and Acting Head of the Gauteng Department of Health, Professor Mkhululi Lukhele because they had resigned.
“No recommendation for disciplinary action could be made against the former CFO, Ms. Lehloenya, as she had resigned from the services of the Gauteng DoH with effect from 1 August 2020,” said Msimang.
“No recommendation for additional disciplinary action could be made against Prof Lukhele (the HoD of the Gauteng DoH), because he resigned with immediate effect on or about 3 October 2020.
“So far nothing has been done to the looters as they continue to walk free and enjoy their daily lives despite the SIU report exposing all the money that they have stolen from the people of Gauteng.
Soon after the PPE scandal broke, Makhura suspended and then fired Bandile Masuku from his Health MEC position.
However, Msimang pressed for more action saying the “evidence indicates that officials have resigned as a way of escaping accountability even if the premier had forced them to resign”.
He added: “The fact that the officials have resigned does not mean that the premier has taken action, criminal charges must be laid against them.”
Masuku was sacked for the role that he played in irregularly awarding the Royal Bhaca Projects (Pty) Ltd and Ledla Structural Development (Pty) Ltd a contract to supply PPE.
The SIU report findings state that Masuku failed to fulfill his obligations to comply with the Constitution and failed his general oversight responsibilities
“If Premier Makhura is serious about acting against those implicated in the Gauteng PPE corruption and those that have failed in their oversight role, why has he not acted on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi?”
The Gauteng Department of Education has been found to have irregularly awarded contracts to the value of R427 686 242.29 to 270 service providers for decontamination of schools in the province.
“All this happened under the watch of MEC Lesufi who is the political head of the department,” said Msimang.
“MEC Lesufi, like former MEC Masuku, has failed in his oversight responsibilities to ensure that his department complies with the prescripts of the constitution and supply chain management processes.
“We demand that Premier Makhura must lay criminal charges against all those implicated and recover all the monies that have been stolen from the Gauteng government.
“We also demand that Premier Makhura provide evidence on what actions he has taken against the looters as a matter of urgency.”
