Fraud claims 'tarnish' health MEC's name
2013-02-05 07:27
Bhisho - Claims that the Eastern Cape health department has
lost R1.4bn to fraud are an attempt to tarnish the name of health MEC Sicelo
Gqobana, the department said on Monday.
The department was aware only of the R42.8m involved in a
fraud and corruption investigation being conducted by the Special Investigating
Unit, departmental spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said in a statement.
He said the department remained committed to the fight
against fraud and corruption and that all officials implicated would be "dealt
with severely".
Document
The Times reported on its website on Monday that it was in
possession of a 55-page document which revealed that 23 221 of the department's
56 000 employees were selling services and goods back to their employer.
According to the document, tracking down fraudulent staff
had reportedly helped the department recover R600m of R1.4bn which had been
stolen.
The newspaper reported that the department had described the
figure as a "gross exaggeration".
In a statement on Sunday, Kupelo said 544 department workers
were suspected of being ghost employees because had been established that they
had invalid identity numbers.
He said 8 034 employees were directors of active companies
and 929 were listed as suppliers for the health department.
Of the 8 034 directors, 235 had received payment of R42.8m
from the department, including R7.3m to provide medical support personnel, R4m
and R3.5m for engineering support staff, and R3.8m for an emergency services
member.
The department said 35 spouses of employees were found to be
doing business with the department, and were linked to 35 companies which
received payments of R11m.
- SAPA
