DA Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has called on criminal charges to be instituted against nine Department of Infrastructure officials who have been fingered in the Anglo Ashanti Hospital scandal which cost the provincial health department over R500 million in budget overrun.
This comes after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi revealed that a disciplinary inquiry against a group of Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) officials implicated in the hospital corruption has been concluded.
As a result, Lesufi said his government has welcomed the findings of the disciplinary inquiry that was initiated against nine Gauteng Department of Health and Infrastructure Development officials who were suspended for irregularities over the awarding of contracts for the refurbishment of the Anglo Ashanti Hospital in 2022.
This comes after the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) discovered significant anomalies in the selection of contractors for the hospital’s renovation.
It was reported that these officials were suspended from the provincial Health and Infrastructure Development departments after the investigation revealed that they had misled the provincial department by indicating that only minor refurbishments needed to be implemented.
Initially contracted for an estimated R50 million, the refurbishment budget soon ballooned to over R588 million.
In a statement, the spokesperson for the provincial government, Vuyo Mhaga, said following the recommendations from the SIU, the Office of the Premier instituted disciplinary action against the implicated officials employed by the Gauteng Departments of Health and Infrastructure Development.
“After thoroughly reviewing the evidence, including interviews and forensic analysis, the officials were charged with various offences, including misconduct, fraud, and corruption.
“Of the nine officials facing charges, five were dismissed, two received written warnings, one was acquitted, and the other could not be subjected to disciplinary action because the department no longer employs him,“ Mhaga stated.
However, the DA through its shadow MEC of health in the province, Jack Bloom has called on a full-scale criminal charges against these officials.
“The DA welcomes the conclusion of disciplinary hearings against nine Gauteng Department of Health and Infrastructure Development officials who were suspended for their involvement in irregular contracts worth R500 million for the refurbishment of the Anglo Ashanti Hospital.
“Unfortunately, the disciplinary case took three years to conclude, costing more than R20 million for the salaries of the suspended officials. Criminal charges should be laid against the implicated officials as well as those in the companies that benefited from the irregular contracts,” Bloom stated.
He added that there should be no cover-ups as the matter had taken too long to conclude.
“There should also be political accountability for the extremely poor decision to refurbish this hospital in the Far West Rand that was not even owned by the provincial government. It was supposed to be used for Covid-19 patients in 2020, but only a hundred patients were treated there and the hospital is now abandoned and vandalised.”
Meanwhile, Lesufi also welcomed the conclusion of the investigation, saying: "We welcome the conclusion of this internal process and believe that this puts this regrettable episode to bed, and we will allow for other applicable processes to unfold to ensure that no stone is left unturned to hold the responsible parties accountable.“
Lesufi said the province is also committed to ensuring a transparent and clean government that is prudent in handling resources entrusted to it.