Provincial Treasury must blacklist PPE scandal service providers

2 February 2022

Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite in English by Freddy Sonakile.

Today, the DA in North West will write to the Member of the Executive Council of Finance, Motlalepula Rosho, requesting that she report all implicated companies in the recently released Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report for listing on the National Treasury Database of Restricted Suppliers.  

The SIU report into Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) corruption released to the public last week revealed that more than 20 companies had inflated their PPE prices against National Treasury Instructions.  

As expected, the North West corruption culprits, namely Matlosana, JB Marks and Ratlou Local Municipalities, did not miss the bullet.  (See the report here. (NW can be found on pages 160 – 169)).   

Companies in North West have robbed the state coffers for too long.  Often not delivering on their contractual obligations, yet it goes unpunished.

The North West Government should address this, and the SIU report findings make room for this. 

Thousands of companies tender and apply for government work with no success, while companies linked to ANC comrades often benefit unduly.  Most companies implicated in the SIU report attest to this.  

The SIU report has confirmed our allegations despite legal threats toward the Democratic Alliance for raising PPE irregularities identified since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

While The DA acknowledges that most of these companies have signed an Acknowledgement of Debt, this will not suffice.  Government must take proactive steps to prove that they are serious about their declared fight against misconduct.  

We will closely monitor all the cases against companies, government officials (municipal and provincial), and politicians referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for criminal investigation and disciplinary referrals.  The NW Government must ensure that justice prevails.

Issued by Freddy Sonakile, DA MPL North West Provincial Legislature, 2 February 2022