By Staff Reporter
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has called for criminal charges and the return of misappropriated funds to be expedited against businessman Hangwani Maumela and other alleged “kingpins” behind the multi-billion rand corruption at Tembisa Hospital.
DA Gauteng health spokesman Jack Bloom said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) needed to file charges against Maumela based on the evidence used for the forfeiture of some of his assets, which were seized by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) earlier this month.
“There is no need to wait for the final SIU report, which is the usual delaying tactic when people have high-level political connections,” said Bloom.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was previously married to Maumela’s aunt.
According to a recent News24 report, Maumela allegedly purchased a R52 million Italian hypercar shortly after whistle-blower Babita Deokaran flagged his companies for securing multiple fraudulent contracts at the hospital.
An accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health, Deokaran was assassinated in 2021.
“The Pagani Huayra Roadster is hand-built in Italy and was part of his R208 million fleet of designer vehicles he bought over a two-year period. It shows the depth of Maumela’s depravity that he bought one of the world’s most expensive cars while stealing money from poor hospital patients,” said Bloom in a press statement.
“R52 million could buy four desperately needed CT scanners, fund 70 doctors or 140 nurses for a year, or build a new clinic,” he said.
The SIU found that Maumela is the head of a syndicate that is linked to R816 million in fraudulent procurement at Tembisa Hospital, a major public facility located in the Ekurhuleni metropolitan region that serves a catchment population of close to two million people.
The hospital is plagued by dilapidated facilities, poor maintenance, and overcrowding.
Last month, the SIU released its interim report into the investigation at the hospital, saying there was “a devastating plunder of the public purse” at the facility, where over R2 billion had been looted by multiple “syndicates”.
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