Former GP health officials in court for R1.2bn corruption, but Brian Hlongwa off the hook, for now

In September 2009, former Gauteng health MEC Brian Hlongwa and his wife hired a limousine to get a luxury spa treatment. The day was allegedly paid for by a small company that had benefited handsomely from contracts with the provincial health department – 3P Consulting.

Four former Gauteng health department employees have finally appeared in court for their alleged corrupt relationship with 3P Consulting, and a host of related companies, which in 2007 are alleged to have orchestrated and irregularly received contracts worth R1.2-billion while brazenly paying kickbacks.

Former department head Sybil Ngcobo, former ICT director Mmakgosi Mosupi, former supply chain director Valdis Romaano and former executive support programme management director Obakeng Mookeletsi were granted bail in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Thursday, 22 October.

They face charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

Hlongwa, who resigned as the ANC’s chief whip in the provincial legislature in 2018 over the long-standing accusations, was not among the accused. However, a Special Investing Unit (SIU) report – released in 2018 after a Section 27  Promotion of Access to Information Act application was submitted– found Hlongwa to be central to the corrupt scheme.

Civil society groups Corruption Watch and Treatment Action Campaign fought to hold the alleged culprits accountable as the authorities dragged their feet.

The SIU found that Hlongwa met 3P director Richard Payne in 2000, while the former was a councillor in the City of Johannesburg. After Hlongwa was appointed Health MEC in 2006, 3P was irregularly awarded a contract to compile the department’s budget.

3P Consulting was then appointed to develop a turnaround strategy for the department and won a contract to establish a project management unit (PMU). After conceptualising the PMU, 3P bid on the contract and, according to the SIU, awarded contracts to relatives and friends of its directors, appointed subcontractors without authority, awarded contracts unrelated to the department’s aims and inflated prices.

After multiple irregular budget increases, the Gauteng health department spent R329-million on the PMU. Over R470-million was spent on upgrading the IT system for electronic health records and over R299-million was spent on upgrading network infrastructure, ignoring recommended procurement processes.

About 20 3P employees were seconded to the department, without any proof that the department needed, or had requested, help. The SIU report essentially described state capture, before state capture became the go-to phrase for the rampant looting of state institutions required to provide life-saving services.

The project that landed the four former officials in court was meant to cost R57-million over three years but ballooned to R1.2-billion, said the Hawks in a statement on Thursday.

In 2007, Hlongwa purchased a Bryanston house for R7.2-million. He paid a R2.6-million deposit, allegedly provided by 3P and Niven Pillay, director of Regiments Health Care, which was appointed by 3P as a subcontractor.

Hlongwa financed the remainder through the sale of his previous home, bought by the company Kemsing Services for R4.75-million. Kemsing director Paul Smidek was a director of another company that benefited from the 3P deals, and Kemsing allegedly directly paid Hlongwa another R1.5-million.

Hlongwa has repeatedly denied the allegations against him and said the SIU report repeated long-standing allegations that are yet to be tested in court.

DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom questioned why Hlongwa hasn’t been charged.

“I have long suspected that the delay in bringing this case to trial has been because Hlongwa had political protection,” said Bloom.

“The Gauteng Health Department has still not recovered from his disastrous tenure when financial controls dissolved and service delivery suffered.”

The Hawks also plan to charge directors of the companies involved.

“Two private company directors who unduly benefited from the tender are yet to be charged along with their two companies. The said directors are reportedly outside of the country, but steps have already been initiated to ensure that they are accounted for,” said the statement from the Hawks, which have arrested and charged a number of people in high-profile corruption cases.

The four people charged – Ngcobo, Mosupi, Romaano and Mookeletsi – have reportedly stated their intention to fight the charges. DM