‘Corruption mafia’ looting Gauteng’s ailing health system

A Gauteng hospital “corruption mafia”, reportedly headed by the now suspended Tembisa hospital chief executive Ashley Mthunzi, has been “manipulating” tender processes to allegedly plunder the province’s ailing health system. 

A Mail & Guardian investigation has also unearthed an alleged assassination plot against a whistleblower who is afraid that his death for exposing graft, which he said was rife in Gauteng’s public health sector, would “be in vain”. 

The assassination plot comes on the back of the gunning down of Babita Deokaran, a Gauteng health official, in August last year. She died in a hail of bullets while working with law enforcement agencies to expose the rot in the provincial system. 

The M&G investigation has tracked how Mthunzi moved around with the same executive management team at Pholosong Hospital, Far East Rand Hospital and Tembisa Tertiary Hospital — in Gauteng’s Ekurhuleni metro — where the team partook in alleged corrupt and frivolous procurement.

After the M&G presented its findings to the Gauteng health department, its spokesperson Motalatale Modiba confirmed the department would launch an investigation into how Mthunzi and his associates embedded themselves in the hospitals’ procurement processes. 

But this is not the first time Mthunzi has been under investigation. In September last year he was meant to appear at a disciplinary hearing brought by the provincial department which could have led to the termination of his contract. 

He was supposed to be charged with misconduct for “contravening the recruitment and selection policy” of the health department by inserting his trusted lieutenants in purchasing departments at hospitals to which he was seconded by the provincial government. 

Gauteng health sources said the disciplinary action against Mthunzi was for the manner in which he “willy-nilly moved around with an executive management team in order to loot through bogus procurement”. 

Four sources in the department told M&G this disciplinary process was shafted to ensure Mthunzi became a permanent Thembisa Hospital executive, where he was in an acting position at the time.  

The investigation has revealed that the members of the alleged corruption mafia, besides Mthunzi, are Rose Mashiyane and Joshua Fernandes. Both moved with Mthunzi — who was to be the acting chief executive — in 2020 from Pholosong to Far East Rand, despite the hospital having staff in those positions. Like Mthunzi, Mashiyane and Fernandes worked for both Pholosong and Far East Rand and were being paid for their employment at both hospitals. This is despite there being administrative and supply-chain management staff at Far East Rand. The permanent staff members were sidelined in the interim. 

Responding to the M&G on behalf of Mashiyane and Fernandes, the Gauteng health department’s Modiba said: “The allegations being made are of concern and, as such, the matter will be referred for further investigation to establish facts and take appropriate actions where necessary.”

Mashiyane and Fernandes ignored the M&G’s requests for comment. 

“Employees cannot be appointed in multiple hospitals at the same time; the departmental system will not allow it. However, employees can be seconded or transferred to another area of work but you cannot pay double salary,” said Modiba. 

Internal communication also shows that staff, represented by two unions, objected to both Mashiyane and Fernandes’s appointment. This came to a head at a management meeting in June last year when Mashiyane was kicked out, at the insistence of union representatives, because the staff felt they could not “discuss their issues with strangers”. 

This was according to the minutes of the meeting, which said the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union “stated that Ms Mashiyane should be removed”. 

The M&G has been able to track several transactions that show the collusive nature of the alleged mafia’s modus operandi. 

An example of alleged frivolous procurement at Far East Rand, which Mthunzi signed for, is a R498 075 ride-on scrubbing machine that has not been used since January last year, two months after Mthunzi joined the hospital as acting chief executive from Pholosong. 

A search on the prices of ride-on scrubbers at the time of the Far East Rand procurement shows that the machine retailed between R39 169 and R279 272, which correlates with assertions made by multiple Gauteng health department sources that the procurement was made as a means to syphon money out of the hospital.

“Procedurally, when such equipment is bought, those tasked with operating it should receive training and other issues like repairs and [maintenance] should be taken into consideration. 

“However, none of that was done and this machine has been idling in the corridors,” said one source, who asked to remain anonymous. 

When M&G visited Far East Rand recently, the cleaning machine sat abandoned and gathering dust near an emergency exit, placed against a wall and blocking the way to a power supply outlet.

M&G managed to track five more  alleged corrupt procurements, which are all below a R500 000 threshold — R489 000; R498 000; R489 000; R490 000 and R491 000. Procurement above R500 000 has to follow a competitive bidding process as set by the treasury. 

In May last year, while he was the Tembisa Hospital’s acting chief executive, Mthunzi approved the R490 000 retiling of the Far East Rand Hospital’s floor, despite official communication showing there was greater need for other procurement, including beds. 

Minutes from a meeting on 3 June 2021 show that Jackson Mabuza, a union leader with the Public Service Association of South Africa, told senior health officials that Mthunzi removed tiles that were “still in a good state” in order to retile the hospital. 

Mabuza, the minutes read, called the R490 000 tiling operation “wasteful expenditure” as “patients have no screeners, wheelchairs, stretchers and no beds”. 

“Blankets [are] not good quality and yet renovations are being done in the institution,” Mabuza was quoted as saying in the minutes. 

The M&G investigation has been able to connect the current Far East Rand chief executive, Sonwabo Lindani, to Mthunzi through high-level provincial officials who second the same people to chief executive posts. 

For three years, Lindani headed the Carletonville Hospital. Last year, the M&G reported that the Special Investigating Unit was looking into the “waste” of R500-million which was meant to add 175 Covid-19 intensive care beds to Gauteng’s total bed count for the pandemic.

Last February, the hospital was set on fire in a suspicious arson attack that destroyed R20-million worth of equipment at the facility — an alleged effort to conceal corruption. 

On the fire at Carletonville Hospital and allegations that the arson was aimed at covering up corruption, Lindani said: “To the best of my knowledge, there are no corruption investigation(s) that are underway [or] emanated from my stay, or occurred under my watch, at the mentioned facility.”

He added that Carletonville Hospital was one of the best facilities in the province, known for its good governance and “to my knowledge I have never been investigated for any corruption allegations”. 

In October last year, Jack Bloom, the Democratic Alliance’s health spokesperson in the Gauteng legislature, said he suspected that the fire “could have been caused to cover up corruption concerning the personal protective equipment or the equipment meant for the Anglo Ashanti Hospital”. 

Lindani is also accused of being behind an alleged assassination plot hatched against Sello Monnakhotla, who is a National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers leader. 

Lindani denied these allegations. Monnakhotla declined to comment, saying the issues were “internal”.  

In a leaked email dated 2 March 2022, Monnakhotla told Dr Zolela Ngcwabe, the Gauteng health department’s Ekurhuleni head, of two attempts to kill him, writing: “My greatest fear is that my death for these [whistleblowing] principles will be in vain.” 

This followed an email the M&G sourced, dated August 2021, wherein Lindani complained to Ngcwabe about the graft noise Monnakhotla was making, ending the email with the line: “Permanent solution is required once as previously proposed.” 

However, Lindani denied he was threatening Monnakhotla, saying the “permanent solution” line was him lobbying for Monnakhotla’s placement at a different health facility due to his “disruptive behaviour”. 

“[Monnakhotla’s] unbecoming conduct is negatively affecting departments in Far East Rand Hospital, however, no one has ever made threats to kill the whistleblowers in our correspondence. 

“Please verify the [authenticity] of the email in your position,” Lindani told M&G.

This was echoed by the Gauteng health department, which said Lindani’s “permanent solution” comment “seems to be interpreted out of context”. 

“This relates to the engagements [Lindani] had with the district management requesting them to assist in resolving work-related challenges with a said employee in the institution in order to create a conducive working environment,” the department said.

A Gauteng hospital “corruption mafia”, allegedly headed by the now-suspended Tembisa hospital chief executive Ashley Mthunzi, has been “manipulating” tender processes to allegedly loot the province’s ailing health system. 

A Mail & Guardian investigation has also unearthed an alleged assassination plot against a whistleblower who is petrified that his death “will be in vain” for exposing alleged corruption, which he said was rife within Gauteng’s public health sector. 

The alleged assassination plot comes on the back of the August 2021 gunning down of Babita Deokaran, a Gauteng health official who was killed in a hail of bullets while working with law enforcement agencies to expose the rot in the provincial system. 

The M&G investigation has tracked how Mthunzi moved around with the same executive management team at Pholosong Hospital, Far East Rand Hospital and Tembisa Tertiary Hospital, all of which are in Gauteng’s Ekurhuleni metro, where the team supposedly partook in alleged corrupt and frivolous procurement.

After the M&G presented its findings to the Gauteng health department, its spokesperson Motalatale Modibe, confirmed they would launch an investigation on how Mthunzi and his alleged corruption mafia embedded themselves in the various hospitals procurement processes. 

But this is not the first time that Mthunzi has been under investigation. In September last year he was meant to undergo a disciplinary hearing brought by the provincial department which could have led to the termination of his contract. 

He was meant to be charged with alleged misconduct for “contravening the recruitment and selection policy” of the health department by inserting his trusted lieutenants in purchasing departments at hospitals that he was seconded to by the provincial government. 

Gauteng health sources said the disciplinary action against Mthunzi was for the manner in which he “willy-nilly moved around with an executive management team in order to loot through bogus procurement”. 

Four sources in the department told M&G that this disciplinary process was shafted to ensure that Mthunzi became a permanent Thembisa Hospital executive, where he was acting at the time.  

‘Mafia’ members

The investigation has revealed that the members of the alleged corruption mafia, besides Mthunzi, are Rose Mashiyane and Joshua Fernandes. Both moved with Mthunzi – who was to be the acting chief executive – in 2020 from Pholosong to Far East Rand, despite the hospital having staff in those positions. 

Like Mthunzi, Fernandes and Mashiyane worked for both Pholosong and Far East Rand and were being paid for their employment at both hospitals. This is despite there being administrative and supply-chain management staff at Far East Rand. The permanent staff members were sidelined in the interim. 

Responding on behalf of Fernandes and Mashiyane in a statement to M&G, the Gauteng health department’s Modibe said: “The allegations being made are of concern and, as such, the matter will be referred for further investigation to establish facts and take appropriate actions where necessary.”

Fernandes and Mashiyane ignored M&G’s requests for comment. 

“Employees cannot be appointed in multiple hospitals at the same time; the departmental system will not allow it. However, employees can be seconded or transferred to another area of work but you cannot pay double salary,” said Modibe. 

Internal communication also shows that staff, represented by two unions, objected to both Fernandes and Mashiane’s appointment. This came to a head at a management meeting in June last year when Mashiyane, at the insistence of union representatives, was kicked out because the staff felt they could not “discuss their issues with strangers”. 

This was according to the June 2021 meeting minutes, which said that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) “stated that Ms Mashiane should be removed”. 

The ‘corrupt’ purchases

M&G has been able to track several transactions that show the collusive nature of the alleged mafia’s modus operandi. 

An example of the alleged frivolous procurement at Far East Rand that Mthunzi signed for is a R498 075 ride-on scrubbing machine that has not been used since January last year, two months after Mthunzi joined the hospital as acting chief executive from Pholosong. 

A search on the prices of ride-on scrubbers at the time of the Far East Rand procurement shows that the machine retailed between R39 169 and R279 272, which correlates with assertions made by multiple Gauteng health department sources that the procurement was allegedly done as a means to syphon money out of the hospital.

“Procedurally, when such equipment is bought, those tasked with operating it should receive training and other issues like repairs and [maintenance] should be taken into consideration. However, none of that was done and this machine has been idling in the corridors,” said one source, who asked to remain anonymous. 

When M&G visited Far East Rand recently, the cleaning machine sat abandoned and gathering dust near an emergency exit, placed against a wall and blocking the way to a power supply box.

M&G managed to track five other alleged corrupt procurements, which are all below the R500 000 threshold – R489 000; R498 000; R489 000; R490 000 and R491 000. Procurement above R500 000 has to follow a competitive bidding process as set by treasury. 

In May last year, while he was also the Tembisa hospital’s acting chief executive, Mthunzi approved the R490 000 retiling of the Far East Rand Hospital’s floor, despite official communication showing there was greater need for other procurement, including hospital beds. 

Minutes from a meeting on 3 June 2021 show that Jackson Mabuza, a union leader with the Public Service Association of South Africa, told senior health officials that Mthunzi removed tiles that were “still in a good state” in order to retile the hospital. 

Mabuza, the minutes read, called the R490 000 tiling “wasteful expenditure” because “patients have no screeners, wheelchairs, stretchers and no beds”. 

“Blankets [are] not good quality and yet renovations are being done in the institution,” Mabuza was quoted as saying in the minutes. 

Alleged assassination plot

The M&G investigation has been able to connect the current Far East Rand chief executive, Sonwabo Lindani, to Mthunzi through high level provincial officials who second the same people to chief executive posts. 

For three years Lindani headed up the infamous Carletonville Hospital. In 2021 the M&G reported that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was looking into the “waste” of R500-million that was meant to add 175 Covid-19 intensive care beds to Gauteng’s total bed count for the pandemic.

Last year February the hospital was set alight in a suspicious arson attack that destroyed R20-million worth of equipment at the facility in an alleged effort to conceal corruption. 

On the fire at Carletonville Hospital and allegations that the arson was meant to cover-up corruption, Lindani said: “To the best of my knowledge, there are no corruption investigation(s) that are underway [or] emanated from my stay, or occurred under my watch, at the mentioned facility.”

He added that Carletonville hospital is one of the best facilities, known for good governance in the  province and “to my knowledge I have never been investigated for any corruption allegations.” 

In October last year, Jack Bloom, the Democratic Alliance’s health spokesperson in the Gauteng legislature, said he suspected that the fire “could have been caused to cover up corruption concerning the PPE (personal protective equipment) or the equipment meant for the Anglo Ashanti Hospital”. 

Lindani is also accused of being behind an alleged assassination plot hatched against Sello Monnakhotla, who is a National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers leader. Lindani has denied these allegations. Monnakhotla declined to comment, saying the issues were “internal”.  

In a leaked email dated 2 March 2022, Monnakhotla told Dr Zolela Ngcwabe, the Gauteng health department’s Ekurhuleni head, of two attempts to kill him, writing: “My greatest fear is that my death for these [whistleblowing] principles will be in vain.” 

This followed an email M&G sourced, dated August 2021, wherein Lindani complained to Ngcwabe about the graft noise Monnakhotla was making, ending the email off with the line: “Permanent solution is required once as previously proposed.” 

However, Lindani denied that he was threatening Monnakhotla, saying the use of “permanent solution” was him lobbying for Monnakhotla’s placement at a different health facility due to his “disruptive behaviour”. 

“His (Monnakhotla’s) unbecoming conduct is negatively affecting departments in Far East Rand Hospital, however no one has ever  made threats to kill the whistleblowers in our correspondence. Please verify the [authenticity] of the email in your position,” Lindani told M&G.

This was echoed by the Gauteng health department, which said Lindani’s “permanent solution” comment “seems to be interpreted out of context”. 

“This relates to the engagements [Lindani] had with the district management requesting them to assist in resolving work related challenges with a said employee in the institution in order to create a conducive working environment,” the department said.

[/membership]