THE Freedom Front Plus has welcomed the release of the report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Digital Vibes, but found it unacceptable that President Cyril Ramaphosa took so long to release it.
FF Plus spokesperson on health Phillip van Staden said his party wants to know what exactly has been achieved by withholding it since early June.
“Over the past few months, the FF Plus made various attempts, in both the National Assembly and the Portfolio Committee on Health, to pressure the President into releasing the report.
“It was clear, right from the start, that more people were involved in the Digital Vibes fraud scandal than what was initially thought, and those people have been allowed to continue serving in their offices for months, while receiving their full salary.
“One of these people is the person who awarded the contract, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Health Dr Anban Pillay. When the contract was awarded, he was serving as the acting director-general of the department,” Van Staden said.
Van Staden said the SIU report recommends that Pillay must be criminally charged for financial mismanagement. According to the report, the entire procurement process was unlawful, and between R72 million and R80 million was misappropriated.
“The only logical explanation for dragging heels in releasing such damning information, is to afford those implicated an opportunity to cover their tracks.
“Since President Ramaphosa received the SIU report, there have apparently been no new developments in the case, and that fact makes it even harder to understand why he kept it so close to his chest, for nearly four months.
“The scandal has now finally been exposed and action must be taken against those implicated at once. Decisive action, leading to prosecution, must be taken. The guilty ones must go to jail. Including the former minister of health Zweli Mkhize,” Van Staden said.
He said the public was sick and tired of corruption and fraud, and that it could, apparently, be committed with impunity.
Van Staden said the FF Plus would keep a very close eye on the investigation and would not allow people to get off scot-free by being transferred or redeployed in some other department or public service division, as per the ANC's usual modus operandi.
Political Bureau