Johannesburg businessman Thabiso Hamilton Ndlovu, who has been involved in PPE corruption, has been sentenced to 30 days imprisonment after contempt following his failure to surrender his assets as part of the forfeiture order.
On Thursday, The Special Tribunal also gave the controversial businessman a suspended R500,000 fine for the contempt ordered that was issued in June 2022.
The order was made to reclaim the outstanding debt owed to the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).
Companies linked to Ndlovu scored PPE tenders to the tune of R172 million from the NHLS. The Special Tribunal set aside the contracts and ordered that Ndlovu, and associated companies pay back R158 million with interest.
Last year September, a Bryanston mansion linked to Ndlovu was sold on auction for R7.1 million after the North Gauteng High Court dismissed an application to stop the auction sale.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the NHLS had accepted an offer of R7.1 million for the Bryanston home as part of the implementation of investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover losses suffered by NHLS and the public.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the luxury house was auctioned in July after a final forfeiture order was confirmed by the Special Tribunal confirmed in January.
Kganyago said the companies linked to Ndlovu were awarded contracts by “abusing the emergency procurement procedures that the NHLS adopted to respond to the Covid-19 disaster during the first half of 2020”.
“The SIU obtained and analysed the bank statements of Ndlovu's front companies and other companies and individuals linked to him. Instead, almost 90% of the funds flowed to Ndlovu for his personal use.
“In terms of Proclamation R.23 of 2020, the SIU was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of corruption, malpractice, maladministration, and irregularities in procuring goods and services by State institutions in response to Covid-19.
“The analysis showed that, apart from an amount of about R15 million that appears to have been used for the purchase of PPE, the funds received from the NHLS were not used to obtain supplies of PPE to deliver upon the contracts to the NHLS,” said Kganyago at the time.
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