An investigation that lifted the veil on fraud, irregularities and governance failures involving a tender meant to provide life-saving oxygen plants at 60 public hospitals is to be welcomed.
“The delivery of these plants was not just a procurement exercise — it was a national health priority,” public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson said when he released the final PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) forensic report into the saga on Tuesday.
The generation plants were meant to provide a continuous supply of medical-grade oxygen to critically ill patients. But the tender ballooned in cost and threatened to become a vehicle capable of siphoning millions in donor funding from the country's ailing public health facilities into the pockets of a few. The project was outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed by the national department of health and the Independent Development Trust (as the department's implementing agent) in June 2022.
The Global Fund was initially to fund it to the tune of R216m. Bear in mind the country was still reeling in June 2022 from the extent of looting uncovered in the final Zondo commission of inquiry reports into state capture. Yet officials involved in the oxygen plant project repeated the same glaring mistakes and flouted procurement rules. Companies awarded contracts were not certified or equipped for the task, one used fraudulent documentation, the procurement process was flawed and meeting minutes were missing, the report found.
What is encouraging in the hospital oxygen debacle is that a government minister took responsibility and acted quickly and transparently
The findings represented a “monumental failure in governance”, adherence to Independent Development Trust (IDT) policies and National Treasury regulations. Macpherson warned he would draw a “hard line in the sand” against corruption when he was appointed. “From the moment I stepped into this role, I was already aware of long-standing and serious allegations of maladministration, financial misconduct, and corruption at the Independent Development Trust,” he said on Tuesday.
One hears newly appointed officials, ministers and even the president vowing to root out corruption and wrongdoing, but the outcome does not always inspire confidence when the result is inaction, or a sideways promotion to a cushy job. Cautious kudos, then, to Macpherson for taking decisive action in January to run an independent forensic investigation, releasing the findings and explaining what disciplinary or criminal action that implicated officials, including IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka face for “failure to exercise oversight”.
The project, the cost of which ballooned to more than R800m, was initially suspended and then handed over to the Development Bank of Southern Africa. No donor funds were lost.
It's tempting to venture into the politics of the GNU and how ministers score political points against each other for various victories and defeats. What is encouraging in the hospital oxygen debacle is that a government minister took responsibility and acted quickly and transparently. It's the kind of response the public should expect — no demand — from the government — accountability and consequence management.
It's an encouraging development that we will watch closely to see if the implicated officials do in fact face the music.
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