The intricate web of lies, false representation and growing case load of corrupt Covid-19 tender awards is encroaching on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office. Court documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal that Thandisizwe Madzikane Diko, the husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko, who is on special leave, created a proxy company to win contracts from the state. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) filed the court papers recently and stated Diko had founded Ledla Structural Development to bid for lucrative tenders for Personal Protective Equipment from the Gauteng Health Department. The SIU confirmed the existence of the court documents but would not give any further comment on the investigation. – Bernice Maune
Proxy company setup by Diko scored 800% profit off corrupt PPE tender deal
By Bernice Maune
The 125m in contracts awarded to Thandisizwe Diko’s company Royal Bhaca have been deemed unlawful and irregular by the Special Investigating Unit. According to Asashanduki Rabali, the SIU lead investigator and prosecutor, a smokescreen was used by Diko to secure the funding which was meant for Covid-19 PPE. This has been revealed in court papers, in the possession of the Sunday Times.
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Diko’s Ledla Structural Development company stepped in to finalise bidding for the contract after the media published that Diko was the husband of Khusela, the publication reports. While Royal Bhaca was indeed cancelled from bidding for the contract, Ledla Structural Company allegedly effectively re-applied for the same contract and received R47m for medical equipment and R78m for hand sanitisers and masks.
The health department had been charged almost 10 times Mediwaste’s price
The tenders were signed off by Thandy Pino, chief director of supply chain management at the Gauteng Health Department, says the newspaper. It has also been discovered that:
- Gauteng health chief financial officer Kabelo Lehloenya allegedly intentionally sought out Royal Bhaca to bid for the tender and told officials to help them become compliant so they could secure it.
- Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku, a friend to Diko, was reportedy pivotal in arranging the contracts and ensuring Diko won the bid.
- The mark-ups on the PPE included the purchasing of a million medical disposal bags from a supplier for 75c each and re-selling these to the health department for R7 each. This led to a profit of R6,25m for Royal Bhaca resulting in them closing in on 800% in profit.
- Lehloenya told a warehouse manager to register the PPE as a donation instead of listing them as paid for. This is understood to be a clear attempt to disguise the source of funds which was the department of health.
Meanwhile, the controversial self-proclaimed King of the amaBhaca people in the Eastern Cape has drawn the ire of the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. Mamkeli Ngam, spokesperson for Cogta told SA FM in an interview there is no kingdom in that part of the Eastern Cape.
“There is no king. What we have in our records is that Thandisizwe is a recognised chief for the Elubhacweni area… and that he is reigning over two villages in that area.
There is a difference between a king and a chief; a king is a super person, a chief is junior to the king. In this particular case, Thandisizwe is recognised as a chief in that area; he is not a king.”