Scorpions detectives have arrested a number of staff members in connection with fraud and theft at three KwaZulu-Natal hospitals, the Natal Witness website reported on Thursday.
It said more arrests were expected.
About 250 staff members — mostly general assistants — at Edendale hospital were believed to be under investigation for social welfare grant fraud.
Their personal files were removed in Wednesday’s blitz, a union official told the newspaper.
About 10 Scorpions detectives were seen at Grey’s Hospital on Wednesday.
They were said to be probing allegations of fraud in the hospital’s stores section.
Clerks receiving money in the admissions section were also being investigated, another union source said.
The swoop formed part of an ongoing investigation into individuals defrauding of the Department of Social Welfare.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi confirmed that the Scorpions had made some arrests and said more were expected.
He could not give details of precise numbers or at which hospitals the arrests took place.
Five Scorpions investigators were also seen going through patients’ files at Northdale hospital on Wednesday, a union source said.
This appeared to relate to the arrest earlier this year of eight clerks who collected money in Northdale hospital’s admission section.
Also under investigation, was the disappearance of R2,5-million from hospital funds.
NPA deputy spokesperson Lucinda Moonieya told the newspaper that the operation was intended to end on July 29.
”This is the first of a number of operations we will be conducting jointly with [the] SAPS [South Africa Police Services] and the Special Investigative Unit,” she said. – Sapa