The IFP condemns the blatant conflict of interest that resulted in the irregular awarding of a tender to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by the Gauteng Department of Health to Nkosi Madzikane Thandisizwe Diko, the husband of Gauteng Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) member and Presidency Spokesperson, Khusela Diko.
It is reported that Diko’s company, Royal Bhaca Projects, was awarded contracts that amount to R125 million on the heels of the President, Cyril Ramaphosa, declaring a national lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020. The contracts, which amount to R47 million and R78 million respectively, were offered to Diko to provide supplies that include biohazards health care waste, biohazard health disposable bags, surgical masks and sanitisers.
Even more alarming is that Diko’s company is alleged to have inflated the cost of the PPE it was providing to the Gauteng Department of Health to amounts that were significantly well above the regulated prices for PPE. This regulated price was established to prevent opportunistic companies like Diko’s from shamelessly exploiting this global catastrophe for personal gain.
The IFP unreservedly condemns this malicious conflict of interest which sees relatives of public officials benefiting from a global pandemic. The IFP has always been a loud voice of opposition against the mismanagement of government funds, tenderpreneurship, cadre deployment in municipalities, corruption as well as the withering of democracy under the burgeoning hegemony of the ANC.
Hence, we call on the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, to conduct a thorough investigation into the tender process which resulted in Diko making the most of the Gauteng Health Department’s need for PPE. No stone must be left unturned in this probe and the Health MEC, Bandile Masuku, under whose watch this happened, must play an active role in ensuring that the beneficiary of this tender is brought to book. We must never allow people with shallow consciences to benefit from what can only be described as the worst pandemic of our lifetime.
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Contact:
Bonginkosi Dhlamini
IFP Gauteng Provincial Chairperson
082 565 3571
