Correctional Services clarifies SIU PPE corruption probe

The Department of Correctional Services is clearing the air over the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) looking into possible corruption related to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE).

This is after the SIU appeared in Parliament on Tuesday, 20 October 2020 and revealed that the correctional services department CEO Nick Ligege was under investigation over the awarding of PPE contracts worth over R50 million to a number of companies.

The department has confirmed the matter but said it had approached the SIU after receiving tip-offs.

“We want to clarify that it was the DCS which called on the SIU to investigate PPE procurement in the department after receiving an anonymous allegation of corruption in this process,” the department’s Singabakho Nxumalo said in a statement on Wednesday, 21 October.

He said the department reported the allegations to the SIU as part of its commitment to clean governance and to root out corruption and maladministration.

“The allegations made against the chief financial officer are serious, and the department had to urgently attend to the matter as such cases warrant sincere objectivity and conclusive investigation, hence the SIU was called upon as a competent agency to conduct such an investigation,” Nxumalo further said.

Correctional Services: Due processes will be followed

He added that the department remained at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus and needed the necessary muscle to accomplish such a move. Nxumalo said procuring necessary PPE requires due diligence and adherence to all prescripts.

“We have made supply chain information available to the investigators and we remain available and willing to assist the process,” Nxumalo said.

“It is imperative the SIU’s due process be allowed to unfold so that allegations levelled against any official can be tested to determine if they have any substance. This will allow an open process wherein those mentioned or implicated can give an account on their role and deliverables”

The SIU is probing at least 600 companies which received over R5 billion worth of contracts from the state to provide PPE-related goods, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Allegations of widespread corruption have emerged, with government and ANC officials being accused of helping themselves to lucrative contracts – one of them being Khusela Diko, whose husband Thandisizwe Diko was awarded a R125 million tender.