Three senior officials from the national department of health who were arrested for fraud and theft for allegedly awarding more than R1m to an unregistered company, have been released on R10,000 bail each.
The officials — acting deputy director-general for corporate services Malixole Mahlathi, CFO Phineas Mamogale and director-general Sandile Buthelezi — were arrested on Monday by members of the Hawks over alleged irregular procurement. They appeared at the Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on Monday.
It is alleged that the trio bypassed prescribed supply chain processes when appointing a service provider to preside over a disciplinary hearing involving a chief director in the department charged with misconduct. The department allegedly paid the service provider more than R1-million.
The company appointed was allegedly not registered on the department’s central supplier database.
“It’s alleged that in 2023 over R1m was unduly awarded to a service provider in contravention of the Public Finance Management Act. The company of one of the suspects is also charged as the fifth juristic person, as the monies were paid to the company,” said Katlego Mogale, Hawks spokesperson.
Sowetan
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