“Meeting minutes were missing or incomplete, which is shocking but not surprising. Committee appointments were not properly constituted. Bid scores were not properly documented. Price negotiations were not transparent,” he said.
Giving an example, Macpherson said the original department of health budget was R216m — but when the IDT issued the request for quotation, prices had ballooned to more than R590m without a single documented approval or value-for-money assessment.
Macpherson said Bulkeng’s CIDB grading limited it to contracts of no more than R200m yet the IDT awarded it contracts worth R428m, more than double its allowable threshold.
He said Malaka, as the CEO of the IDT, failed to exercise oversight as the report confirmed she relied entirely on internal supply chain management staff to assure her that the process had followed proper procurement protocol. She failed to verify any of the documentation.
“She did not act on the red flags raised by the department of health. She did not convene the necessary risk committees to assess the matter. In this, she was not alone,” Macpherson said.
The report also singled out Sisi for his role in misleading internal stakeholders and failing to act per his responsibilities.
The forensic report recommended that disciplinary action should be taken against Malaka and Sisi. The investigation also recommends disciplinary referrals against several other IDT executives and supply chain management officials.
Macpherson said he has written to the Hawks, briefed the minister of health and met the newly appointed IDT board to initiate consequence management.
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