The Global Fund, one of the world’s largest health financiers, is sending its inspectors to South Africa in response to allegations of tender fraud linked to an R800-million contract it funded, exposed in a joint Daily Maverick and amaBhungane investigation.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi made the announcement during his oral reply to questions posed in the National Assembly. He was answering a question by DA member Michéle Clarke. TimesLive and Newzroom Afrika first reported on the announcement.
Last month, Daily Maverick broke the news of “ghost company” Bulkeng being awarded the lion’s share of the contract to install oxygen plants at 55 hospitals across South Africa. A subsequent joint Daily Maverick and amaBhungane investigation found evidence of potential tender fraud in the documents Bulkeng submitted for the contract.
“When this story broke, it disturbed all of us, including [President Cyril Ramaphosa], who wrote me a letter to present to him a report within 14 days,” Motsoaledi told the National Assembly.
According to Motsoaledi, the project is funded by the Global Fund, a Geneva-based powerhouse coalition of governments and civil society organisations dedicated to fighting Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. It is “the world’s largest multilateral funder of global health grants in low- and middle-income countries”, according to its website.
“When the story broke, I was in Brazil and the Global Fund was there,” said Motsoaledi.
“We met and they promised that they too would send their own inspectors to investigate this matter.”
The Global Fund donates R10-billion every three years to South Africa, added Motsoaledi. During Covid-19, it set its target on acquiring oxygen plants for South African hospitals when it heard that facilities had run out of oxygen.
“That’s why they decided that part of the money must now be used to put oxygen plants in 55 hospitals so that, in future, the hospitals will no longer issue tenders for oxygen, and they will be self-sufficient,” said Motsoaledi.
He explained that his department delegated procurement to the Independent Development Trust (IDT), a government infrastructure implementing agency reporting to the Department of Infrastructure Development under Minister Dean Macpherson.
“For this issue, because we are just a client department, it is [Macpherson] who is busy investigating this issue, but I talk to him every day about it, including today, to get to the bottom of this,” said Motsoaledi.
“I can assure you that it is being investigated by Minister Macpherson, because IDT accounts to him. I am working with him, and the Global Fund is independently going to investigate this matter because this is their money. Then they will be able to bring out the findings.”
Daily Maverick revealed last month that the contract to install the highly technical pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen-generating plants ballooned from R256-million to R836-million.
Bulkeng managed to clinch the lion’s share of the contract — about R400-million — despite the company having no online presence, no certification from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) and a very elusive director, Nkosinathi Ndlovu.
A subsequent joint investigation by amaBhungane and Daily Maverick found more damning evidence that Bulkeng had seemingly used a Sahpra certificate belonging to a third-party company without that company’s knowledge, and a witness signature used in its offer letter to the IDT may have been forged.
Read more: Alleged tender fraud, shock ‘death’ of contractor cloud R836m hospital oxygen plants project
Bulkeng also seemingly used a business address in Sandton to tender for the contract when it no longer occupied those offices.
Days after Daily Maverick and amaBhungane finally met with Ndlovu, he was purported, via X (formerly Twitter), to have died; however, attempts to verify this at police stations, mortuaries and via the police were unsuccessful.
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