By Horisani Sithole
Copyright sabcnews
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is expected to release a report on its investigation into allegations of corruption and procurement irregularities at the Thembisa Hospital, north of Johannesburg, on Monday.
In 2021, Gauteng Health senior official and whistleblower Babita Deokaran was gunned down outside her Johannesburg home for flagging these irregularities.
At the time of her murder, she had reported close to R1 billion in procurement irregularities and blocked payments to tenderpreneurs at the hospital.
She exposed fraud, corruption and tender irregularities of approximately R850 million at Thembisa hospital.
Deokaran’s audit identified about 217 companies linked to suspicious transactions.
The SIU is expected to deliver its findings on the matter.
The Special Investigating Unit has confirmed that it will release its report tomorrow on its investigation into corruption at the Tembisa Hospital. pic.twitter.com/XyBkpecOJu
— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 28, 2025
VIDEO |SIU to release interim report on Thembisa Hospital investigation
Wits School of Governance Professor Alex van den Heever says the rot starts from top to bottom.
“We have allowed people to establish very rapid networks of extraction at the top of the systems, which can close down anything anywhere in the system. So that the laws do not apply. And we have to recognise that this is going to continue to exist. Because the silence that we have in terms of the prosecution and the disciplinary action tells a story of what is going on in the system.”
Doekaran’s death also prompted the Gauteng government to conduct its own investigation into corruption through the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Council, where they found government officials continue to do business with state organs.
Ethics Advisory Council’s Solomuzi Mabuza says, a number of officials have been detected to be conducting business with the state. “With the use of artificial intelligence, even those who are sophisticated in hiding their operations can now be tracked. So departments need to finalise these investigations so that appropriate action can be taken as public servants are prohibited from doing this.”
“Cat” Matlala
Those who formed part of the Tembisa hospital looting spree are said to have also benefited in other spheres of government, such as the Gauteng Education Department and at Eskom.
Tender tycoon and attempted murder suspect, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s scored a R360 million tender within the South African Police Service; the tender has since been revoked.
Corruption Watch’s David Lewis says there are loopholes in the system.
“What is it about the management system in the Gauteng Department of Health which makes it vulnerable to corruption. There are very simple things that I do not understand. For example, why are so many large health facilities managed by doctors? You would not send an experienced manager to do surgery, so why send an experienced doctor to do management of an institution with big procurement budgets and complicated HR?”
The rot at Tembisa Hospital runs deep, with billions of rand lost to fraud, corruption as well as tender and procurement irregularities.
The SIU’s Leonard Lekgetho says about 4 000 tenders are being investigated at Thembisa hospital, and they are working on trying to recoup some of the money lost to these dubious companies.
“The investigation i can confirm that its progressing very well and currently there are some considerable outcomes that we had out of the investigation one it is that we have referred 111 disciplinary referrals regarding the Tembisa hospital and department of health so that they can take action against those individuals involved in corruption, plus 25 administrative referrals with some of the companies that were involved, 4 criminal referrals regarding corruption. It’s quite a complex investigation where we have seen a big web.”
