Flamboyant businessman Hamilton Ndlovu allegedly connived using various companies which often competed against each other to score PPE contracts from the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) worth close to R170m.
A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report into the PPE scandal, which was made public on Tuesday, uncovered that several companies linked to Ndlovu were competing against themselves, scoring contracts worth millions of rand in the process.
Ndlovu is one of the biggest beneficiaries in the PPE scandal after raking in excess of R170m from irregularly awarded contracts by the NHLS.
The report revealed that nine companies awarded PPE contracts “made payments to Ndlovu's account and these payments were diverted to Hamilton Holdings, as well as Feliham [owned by Ndlovu's fiancée]".
The SIU established that although Feliham was restricted via the Central Supplier Database (CSD) from doing business with the state, officials at the NHLS “circumvented this restriction and awarded a contract to Feliham worth R14.4m”.
The SIU also discovered how a R3m contract awarded to Ndlovu late in 2019 for the building of a prefab laboratory in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, was in 2020 “diverted” for the supply of PPE three months after it was awarded by the NHLS.
Contracts to the total value of R264.7m had been irregularly awarded to the companies with links to Ndlovu, with some contracts “greatly inflated”.
“The SIU investigation uncovered a web of interlinked entities, all purporting to operate independently. However, in essence, the entities were all the alter ego of Mr Ndlovu,” the report stated.
“R42-million from these companies was transferred to Ndlovu's personal account, potentially money laundering. The available evidence indicates that very little was actually paid for the PPE and/or that there was a huge mark-up.”
Ndlovu leapt into the public domain in May 2020 after posting a video footage online and boasting about buying a fleet of luxury vehicles worth about R11m. The fleet included three Porsches, a Jeep and a Lamborghini Urus SUV.
The SIU is attempting to recoup R172m from Ndlovu. His bid to slam the brakes on the SIU application failed in the Special Tribunal last month.
Ndlovu told Sowetan he had not seen the report but “will express an opinion” once he has read it.
The report further said the “SIU investigation determined that the entities which conducted business with the National HLS for PPE upon receipt of the National HLS funds, transferred same to Mr Ndlovu” and entities linked to him.
“The SIU obtained evidence which revealed that Mr Ndlovu was the individual behind the submission of quotations by the different entities, the purchase of the required PPE and to some extent the delivery.”
The available evidence indicates that Ndlovu is the owner of the entities and is both the direct and indirect beneficiary of the funds received from NHLS, the report said.
“After analysing the available documentation, the evidence indicated that quotations from other entities were found in Hamilton Holdings' offices. This raises the suspicion of cover quoting or SCM officials at National HLS colluding with him.”
Ndlovu launched an application, arguing that he was broke in an unsuccessful bid to stop the ongoing proceedings in the Special Tribunal, pending the finalisation of his other court matter with Sars.
The report indicated that 11 criminal referrals were made to the NPA, including against Ndlovu and directors of the companies linked to him.
Ndlovu’s matter is one of 45 cases the SlU is pursuing in the Special Tribunal in a bid to recover more than R2bn of public funds which were paid out in illegally awarded PPE contracts.
The report, which was handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa last year, revealed that three officials at the NHLS's procurement and supply chain divisions resigned before disciplinary actions could be taken against them.
It also said that 386 cases have been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for criminal prosecutions with R34.2m had been recovered.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said 964 matters were still being investigated, which will form part of a report to be handed over to Ramaphosa in June.
Kganyago said these matters came to light around last month when the SIU was about to hand over its report to the president.
“Some of these matters are related to some of the cases we have investigated, there's new information related to cases like Digital Vibes for example,” Kganyago said.
The SIU is also trying to recover R150m from Digital Vibes, a company which enjoyed close links with former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.
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