Africa-Press – South-Africa. The acting CFO of the Gauteng health department, Masibolekwe Ndima, said a random compliance audit of hospitals across the province was a not a reaction to Babita Deokaran’s report into R850 million in “possibly fraudulent” Tembisa Hospital spending.
The timing, he held, was just a coincidence and that annual monitoring plans saw auditors dispatched to the East Rand facility in the days preceding her assassination.
The auditors were withdrawn on the day she was killed.
Speaking to Mandy Wiener on 702 radio’s Midday Report, Ndima said he had been parachuted into the void left by the now suspended Lerato Madyo. He has been in the role for eight days.
Madyo was suspended last month, alongside Tembisa Hospital boss Ashley Mthunzi, following a News24 investigative series, called Silenced.
Before her assassination, Deokaran flagged 217 companies that saw a number of contracts for the supply of medical supplies. She recommended an urgent investigation.
Instead of a probe focused on the hospital, the department performed a compliance audit of hospitals across the province.
Ndima said the audit was random and done across various hospitals on a quarterly basis, and that Tembisa Hospital was not specifically placed in focus.
He wouldn’t go deeper into the issue, saying it was a matter of an ongoing investigation.
“I won’t want to be seen to be [reporting on an ongoing investigation], I’m not sure what News24 is saying. It’s my eighth day on the job.”
He was asked whether his comments meant that he was “thrown into the position” to account for the department.
He said:
Wiener challenged him to make the report public. Ndima said he saw no issue, but only when an SIU investigation was completed.
He could not answer as to whether the correct actions were being taken to ensure that Tembisa Hospital was now clear from fraud.
“The only way to get assurance that the situation has improved is once it has been monitored. This is usually after six to 12 months after the implementation is done.
“In this case, we will do it monthly.”
He also commented that “skinny jeans” was a coding error in the system, and not actual skinny jeans.
This after it was revealed that Tembisa Hospital bosses splurged R498 000 on a shipment of children’s skinny jeans, purchased through a company formed just one month prior to scoring the contract, and others worth millions.
“The issue of the skinny jeans has been clarified – there is coding in the system – it was an error in terms of uploading and not a purchase of skinny jeans – it has been included in the ongoing investigation.”
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