By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Hawks on Wednesday raided the home and business premises of African National Congress (ANC) Ekurhuleni treasurer-general, Sello Sekhokho.
The raid is part of their investigations into the R1 billion Tembisa Hospital tender graft, which ultimately led to the death of whistleblower Babita Deokaran.
Deokaran was gunned down outside her child’s school shortly after she flagged several shady transactions at the hospital in August 2021.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said teams of detectives swooped in on the house in Bedfordview and offices in Germiston and Edenvale to execute a search and seizure warrant.
Sekhokho is not named in the statement, but sources have confirmed that the politician was the target of the operation.
“The action is informed by the ongoing investigation into alleged tender irregularities that resulted in approximately R1 billion rand being siphoned from the Gauteng Department of Health,” said Ramovha.
It has emerged Sekhokho scored more than R80 million in tenders from other hospitals in Gauteng despite having no valid certificate to sell medical products.
This evidence was revealed by Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to questions from DA health spokesperson Jack Bloom in the provincial legislature.
She revealed that Sekhokho’s three companies, Kaizen Projects, Nokhokhoko Medical Supplies and Bollanoto Security, had received R14.5m from 55 contracts from Tembisa Hospital alone in the past years.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said that none of the companies had SA Health Products Regulatory Authority approval for the sale of medical products, and “a number of irregularities were noted after the audit/assessment of internal controls”.
“No arrests have been affected at this stage, pending further investigation,” Ramovha said.