City Press reports that the Hawks (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) in Mpumalanga have obtained a preservation order to seize properties of a former provincial health department secretary embroiled in a R5 million dodgy personal protective equipment (PPE) scandal.

On Tuesday, the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela granted the order allowing the police unit to seize a R1.5-million house in Sunninghill, Sandton, and three vehicles – a Toyota Quantum, a Hyundai truck, and a VW Golf – worth a combined R1 million. According to police, in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that sparked a PPE delivery feeding frenzy, the director’s secretary from the Mpumalanga department of health, Sanele Sanderson, allegedly colluded with two service providers to fake PPE purchases and deliveries. This resulted in the service providers unlawfully benefiting from the products that were never delivered. The scale of PPE corruption in SA during the pandemic was staggering, with the Special Investigating Unit reporting that more than R30 billion was spent by state institutions between April and November 2020, with R13.3 billion of that under investigation for irregularities. Investigations covered 1,774 PPE contracts, revealing widespread misconduct across various departments and municipalities.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sipho Mabena at City Press (subscription / trial registration required)

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