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Service providers involved in the controversial R431m Covid-19 school sanitation tenders have agreed to pay back R25m to the state.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which led the drive to recoup the lost funds, said on Thursday that 16 service providers and individuals linked to the Chachulani Group Investment Holdings have signed the settlement agreements.
Five of them have consented to the following preserved amounts being debited from their respective bank accounts:
- R707,892 from the bank account of Chachulani Group Investment Holdings,
- R1,708,749 from the bank account of Netvision Energy Savers,
- R1,684,639 from the bank account of Mpale Investments Holdings,
- R12,898,728 from two offshore unit trusts of Naledzi Investment Trust,
- R8m from the bank account of Naledzi Investment Trust.
The action follows a 2022 judgment by the Special Tribunal, which reviewed and set aside contracts worth R431m awarded by the Gauteng department of education (GDE) to various service providers for the decontamination, disinfection and sanitisation of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of preparations for the reopening of schools during the pandemic, the department implemented cleaning protocols requiring schools with reported Covid-19 cases to temporarily close for decontamination and sanitisation.
SIU spokesperson Selby Makgotho said investigations revealed that service providers were not paid according to the size of the areas cleaned, but instead charged arbitrary amounts determined by a senior department of education official.
“Primary schools were billed between R250,000 and R270,000 and secondary schools between R250,000 and R290,000, while district offices were charged up to R300,000 for decontamination and sanitisation services.
“The fees charged were not proportionate to the work performed by the service providers or the cost of materials used,” Makgotho explained.
The SIU’s investigation found that the procurement process was not cost-effective and that suppliers were sourced informally through existing databases, referrals and WhatsApp messages without the involvement of the department’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) division, which is responsible for sourcing and vetting suppliers.
Makgotho said R25m is out of the R40m paid by the department to the Chachulani Group.
The investigation further found that the selection and appointment of service providers were conducted in a “haphazard, unfair and inequitable manner”, contrary to Section 217 of the constitution.
“Senior officials involved in the procurement process also admitted that prescribed supply chain management procedures were not followed,” said Makgotho.
This follows the Special Tribunal’s order preserving assets worth R27m pending the final determination of the review application, which was finalised in 2022.
The SIU said the settlement agreements is part of ongoing efforts to recover public funds lost through corruption and maladministration during the national state of disaster.
Sowetan
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