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BusinessLive reports that SA’s health products regulator has ordered the defence force to return an unregistered Covid-19 drug obtained from Cuba, or face having it confiscated and destroyed.
This is the first time the regulator has made such an order following investigations. SA National Defence Force (SANDF) officials implicated in the scandal may be held personally liable for the R260m billed by the Cubans, according to a report by the auditor-general presented to parliament’s defence committee on Wednesday. The SANDF has paid R120m to date. The SANDF is under fire for violating acquisition rules and health regulatory protocols to procure Heberon Interferon-Alpha-2B. The unregistered drug was imported in 2020 at the peak of the first wave of Covid-19 without the regulator’s approval and stored at unlicensed premises. The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) and the auditor-general’s office are conducting separate investigations into the matter, and there are calls for SANDF officials and former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to be held accountable. Sahpra intended to report the implicated officials to the Health Professions Council of SA, the statutory regulator of healthcare professions, for non-compliance, Sahpra CEO Boitumelo Semete told MPs on Wednesday. In its report to the defence committee, officials from the auditor-general’s office said their investigation had concluded that all expenditure incurred for the project had been irregular.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive
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