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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo will write to Premier Stan Mathabatha to make the Special Investigative Unit’s (SIU) report on the Limpopo Department of Health public. This will ensure accountability from those implicated and ensure all processes are transparent.

The Office of the Premier indicated that there were contracts to the value of R193 million to be set aside, 10 disciplinary referrals, 33 administrative referrals, 6 Competition Commission referrals and NPA referrals.

There are also other referrals for companies that did business with the department to the South African Health Product Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and South African Revenue Service (SARS). All these SIU outcomes indicate how deep-seated the culture of political patronage and corruption in the department is.

The people of Limpopo have a right to know which unscrupulous department officials, individuals and companies wasted public funds and resources during a devastating Covid-19 pandemic. Making this information public will help ensure that these companies never do business with the provincial government departments again.

The money wasted by the department could have gone a long way in procuring additional PPE, medical equipment or in starting to address the crippling staff shortages in our health facilities, in particular our Tertiary Hospitals.

The DA will continue to monitor the situation and the progress around implementing this SIU report. We believe the report being made public will go a long way to ensure accountability among those who are implicated.

Issued by DA Limpopo Spokesperson for Health, Risham Maharaj MPL