Health ministry spokesperson Foster Mohale on Sunday confirmed that Buthelezi has been suspended after a report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into the alleged tender fraud.
The same contract led to the suspension, followed by the resignation, of former health minister Zweli Mkhize.
“Like in any organisation, the issue of the accounting authority obviously requires that it be checked whether they were aware or not. So it’s not to say that he has awarded the contract, because it was awarded before he arrived, but he took over and the contract continued even then. When they investigated, they regarded [the DG as head] of the accounting authority so if they found that it was unlawful, they have questioned what did he do about it,” said Mohale.
“The procurement process was ... a sham, designed and conducted to reach the predetermined result that Digital Vibes would be appointed,” lead investigator Rajendra Chunilall said in the SIU’s founding affidavit. Ten days later, the department asked the National Treasury to approve a R133m NHI communications contract with Digital Vibes without a bidding process. The Treasury refused, advising the department to advertise a public tender. But instead of advertising, the department issued a closed tender to 10 companies.
It was later found that some of these individuals never worked for Digital Vibes and were not paid. As a consequence of the alleged rigging, only two companies responded, Digital Vibes and Brandswell. When it came to scoring, Le Roux said, Brandswell was prejudiced by the department’s five-member tender evaluation committee , which included deputy director-general Anban Pillay and head of communications Popo Maja.
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