How criminals spent R2 billion stolen from Tembisa Hospital

Criminal syndicates in South Africa spent ill-gotten gains from looting a state-run hospital on trophy assets, including properties in exclusive locales, Lamborghinis, a Bentley and a luxury boat, a probe showed. 

At least three major syndicates and several smaller groups co-ordinated with provincial government officials and health-care workers to loot more than R2 billion from Tembisa Hospital, north of Johannesburg, according to an interim report by the Special Investigating Unit. 

They bypassed procurement processes, won contracts using fraudulent documents and received payments for goods that in many cases weren’t supplied, the investigation by the anti-corruption body showed.

“This staggering sum, intended for the provision of health care to the most vulnerable, was instead ruthlessly siphoned off through a complex web of fraud and corruption, representing an egregious betrayal of the nation’s trust,” the SIU said.  

The report highlights yet another example of widespread graft in Africa’s most industrialized economy that’s hobbled key institutions and weighed on the delivery of basic services from electricity to water. 

It also raises concerns about the government’s plan to implement national health insurance, which intends to provide citizens universal access to care through a centrally managed state fund that buys services from public and private providers.   

The probe follows the 2021 assassination of Babita Deokaran, a Gauteng Department of Health worker and whistleblower who flagged millions of rands in suspicious payments at Tembisa Hospital.

In addition to the criminal syndicates, the SIU has since identified at least 15 current and former officials implicated in corruption, money laundering, collusion and bid rigging for the appointment of service providers at the facility, it said. 

“In essence, officials were active participants in malpractice or turned a blind eye, effectively allowing the public purse to be looted through a combination of maladministration and collusion with third parties,” the SIU said.

The agency expects to complete a full investigation by November 2027. In the meantime, it has referred matters to the National Prosecuting Authority, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority and Gauteng Department of Health for action. 

It also plans to institute civil proceedings against those implicated in the graft and to recover monies, including through freezing and recovering assets from service providers and officials.