The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation welcomes the release of the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) interim report on Tembisa Hospital. This marks an important step towards accountability in the public health sector. The report confirms that over R2 billion meant for healthcare was stolen through coordinated syndicates, procurement fraud, and the collapse of oversight mechanisms.

While we welcome the release of this report, it is only an interim step. The SIU anticipates completing its work sometime in 2026, and we expect that this process will result in further referrals for criminal prosecution, civil recovery, and disciplinary action. Anything less would betray the memory of whistleblowers like Babita Deokaran, whose courageous actions first exposed the rot at Tembisa Hospital.

The interim findings make it clear that the health system faces a systemic crisis: procurement rules were routinely ignored, compliance certificates were issued for non-compliant bidders, goods were never delivered, and yet payments were made. This was not the work of a few rogue individuals. It was enabled by weak governance, abandonment of oversight responsibilities, and complicity by officials across multiple levels of the system.

If we are serious about restoring public confidence in the healthcare system, the response cannot be limited to Tembisa Hospital. A province wide reconstruction of health procurement processes is required, with transparency at its core. This means publishing all bids, payment determinations, and awarded tenders. Financial records must be made publicly available, and lifestyle audits established for officials in positions of financial control.

The release of this report must indicate the start of a sustained effort to rebuild integrity across the public health sector. South Africans deserve a health system that serves the people, protects public resources, and upholds the highest standards of ethical governance.

Significant action is required, not only to bring those who looted to account, but to reform the system so that such looting is never permitted to happen again. The link between politics and procurement and its deadly consequences for patients and others requires more than platitudes.

ENDS

For media inquiries, please contact:

Anele Gcwabe

Communications Manager

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation

083-278-8832

anele@kathradafoundation.org