Pretoria - The DA in Gauteng has warned that corruption in hospitals is set to multiply after the national government raised the limit for hospital purchases that can be signed off by the hospital CEOs without going to tender from R500 000 to R1 million.
The increase in hospital purchase limits was disclosed by Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in her oral reply to questions from the DA’s spokesperson for health, Jack Bloom, in the Gauteng Legislature.
Bloom appeared outraged by the reply, especially the MEC’s denial that the increase would lead to more corruption.
In denying claims of corruption, Nkomo-Ralehoko said only 14 cases of split billing had been picked up at Tembisa Hospital since January last year, and no more cases were picked up at any other hospital since September last year.
She said the Gauteng Treasury raised the limit to reduce turnaround time and account for increased costs.
Split-billing is the practice of dividing a contract so that it is just below the R500 000 (now R1 million) limit to avoid going out to competitive tender.
Bloom said, despite widespread abuses, the Gauteng Treasury has raised the limit for hospital purchases that could be signed off by the hospital CEO without going to tender from R500 000 to R1 million.
“I am astonished that the threshold has been doubled to R1 million as hundreds of cases have been exposed by the SIU and the media of fishy companies supplying goods just below the R500 000 limit.
‘’How can the MEC claim that only 14 cases of split billing were detected from January last year?’’ Bloom asked.
It seemed the department had grossly inadequate monitoring of hospital purchases and ignored all the cases exposed by the media, he said.
“The problem of split-billing occurs at other hospitals as well, as revealed by official replies to my questions in the Legislature.
“Abuses are likely to increase now that the threshold has been raised to R1 million. This only makes sense where there are effective controls and honest and capable hospital CEOs, which is not the case as revealed by the recent Health Ombud’s report on the Rahima Moosa Hospital,” Bloom said.
He based his concern about corruption after the Health Department admitted earlier this year that a top ANC official, Sello Sekhokho – ANC Ekurhuleni regional secretary – scored 55 contracts amounting to R14.5 million from Tembisa Hospital in the past three years for cleaning materials, protective clothing, medical consumables, office supplies and groceries.
His three companies – Kaizen Projects, Nokokhokho Medical Supplies and Bollanoto Security – got R2.8 million in contracts in 2019, R4.2 million in 2020, and a whopping R7.5 million in 2021, when Dr Ashley Mthunzi took over as the hospital’s CEO.
“The Department is relying on the SIU to investigate cases, but needs to do far more to stop massive hospital misspending, which the SIU estimated at R1 billion over three years at the Tembisa hospital and is rife at other hospitals as well,” Bloom said.
Following Bloom’s outcry in the legislature, Nkomo-Ralehoko issued a media statement seeking to explain that the decision to increase hospital purchases was taken by the national government and not her office.
She also gave an undertaking that her department would closely monitor the wrongful practice by officials of splitting orders to avoid going to tender. “Already, 14 transactions from Tembisa hospital were picked up by the office of the Auditor General SA (5) and the Gauteng Audit Services (9), respectively.
“The department had substantial abuse of splitting of orders under the threshold of 500 000. However, all cases of abuse are being investigated by the SIU.” On raising of the threshold by the Gauteng Provincial Treasury, Nkomo-Ralehoko said this was applicable nationally, not only to health.
Pretoria News