Africa-Press – South-Africa. Popo Maja, the director of communications at the national Department of Health, has appeared in court on corruption charges related to a tender awarded to Digital Vibes.
Maja appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday morning after handing himself over to the police.
He has been charged with two counts of corruption for his alleged role in awarding a contract worth more than R140 million to Digital Vibes to provide communication services to the department for the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme.
According to the charge sheet, Maja was part of the bid evaluation committee, which assessed the different bids for the tender.
It’s alleged that he was paid two bribes amounting to R15 000 during this process.
According to the charge sheet, the money for the alleged bribes flowed from a Digital Vibes bank account into another account owed by Tahera Mather.
From there, the money was allegedly deposited into Maja’s bank account.
The State has accused Mather of being the true owner of Digital Vibes.
Maja was sanctioned by the department last July for his involvement in awarding the tender to Digital Vibes.
One of the charges he faced in an internal disciplinary hearing was gross misconduct as a member of the bid evaluation committee, City Press reported.
Maja was found guilty of two charges against him, including initiating the request to extend the service-level agreement with Digital Vibes.
He was subsequently demoted as the department’s spokesperson.
He was issued a final written warning and demoted one salary level. Both sanctions were made valid for 12 months.
Former health minister Zweli Mkhize resigned over the Digital Vibes scandal after it was claimed that he was linked to the company’s alleged owners, Mather and Naadhira Mitha.
The Special Investigating Unit is probing the matter.
Maja’s case is the second investigation linked to Digital Vibes that has come before the court.
Lizeka Tonjeni, an employee of the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), is on trial for allegedly accepting a bribe from Digital Vibes to help the company bag a R3.9-million contract from the state organisation.
MISA falls under the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs..
Mkhize was the department’s minister at the time the contract was awarded.
No allegations have been levelled against Mather, Mitha or Mkhize in the Tonjeni case.
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