It has been a productive few weeks for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in its quest to ensure that assets obtained through questionable tender processes involving public funds are preserved and ultimately recovered by the state.
Last week, the SIU announced that it had secured an interim preservation order to freeze three high-value properties worth about R8.4m linked to the alleged looting of about R27m from the Northern Cape department of health.
The order from the Special Tribunal forms part of the SIU’s ongoing civil proceedings to recover public funds paid unlawfully for a personal protective equipment contract during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The order was granted against the assets of Kimberley businessman Somandla Sibisi and his companies. The preservation order includes three properties in Kimberley and Bryanston, which are suspected to have been bought with the proceeds of the fraud.
The award, made by the health department’s then CFO Daniel Gaborone and approved by the acting head of department, Dr Dion Theys, was for a total value of R26.96m. Theys was initially charged in the PPE fraud case, but the case was struck off the roll in October last year. However, the National Prosecuting Authority indicated that it intended to reinstate the case.
This week, the SIU also announced that it had secured another preservation order from the Special Tribunal to freeze a luxury property in Polokwane valued at R3.9m, as well as a bakkie.
The SIU obtained this order after an intensive investigation uncovered an alleged bribery and corruption scheme in which an Eskom employee and his family allegedly received about R8m in payments from companies unlawfully favoured in a R54m tender awarded in 2016.
The order prevents Eskom surveyor and project manager Johannes Seroke Mfalapitsa, his spouse Ndiyafhi Denge, and others from selling or dealing with the assets.
However, the SIU should push hard to have these assets declared forfeited to the state. This would send a warning to would-be offenders that crime does not pay.
The SIU’s investigation found that Mfalapitsa occupied multiple conflicting roles in the tender process, in direct violation of Eskom’s conflict of interest policy.
Eskom had in 2016 advertised a tender for high-definition surveying services, which was awarded to a panel of 10 service providers for a five-year period.
“He helped draft the tender’s scope of work, evaluated bidders’ technical submissions, and was appointed the project manager for the awarded contract. Crucially, while evaluating bids, his spouse was already receiving payments from one of the bidders, NTG Solutions CC,” the SIU said.
The SIU contends that at least R1.5m of the Polokwane property’s construction costs originated from unlawful payments. The Nissan NP200 under restraint was acquired by Mfalapitsa from another Eskom employee, allegedly using funds traced to the scheme.
The SIU said over R3.6m flowed from service providers to the family, which was then used to pay for the construction of the property and to make payments to Denge.
These two preservation orders are among many that the SIU has obtained during the course of the year.
The SIU should be praised for going to court to ensure that alleged wrongdoers do not get to enjoy the spoils of their ill-gotten gains.
However, the SIU should push hard to have these assets declared forfeited to the state. This would send a warning to would-be offenders that crime does not pay. What is also encouraging in the Eskom case is that the SIU has announced it is preparing to institute civil action to review and set aside Eskom’s award of the tender to these companies and to recover financial losses suffered by the state.
In addition, other law-enforcement authorities, including the Hawks and the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, must play their part in ensuring that alleged perpetrators face criminal charges and are brought to book to answer for their actions.
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