All those implicated have denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AmaBhungane has obtained a copy of the insider\u2019s explosive affidavit filed with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks), which includes email communication, contracts, invoices and bank statements as evidence of the corruption allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The documents show that the trio occupied senior positions in the department when the alleged events occurred which gave them access to sensitive information about upcoming contracts and tenders. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Malotana was the chief director of Gauteng Health\u2019s Special Projects Directorate and the CEO of the ambulance services division Gauteng EMS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Motha is the special directorate\u2019s deputy director for laundries and waste while Lecholo is a contract management assistant director in supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider, whose identity is known to amaBhungane, worked closely with Armstrong at the time and alleges that the bribes were split between two tenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first tender was a R31-million contract to supply plastic food containers to the department\u2019s Masakhane Laundry and Cook-Freeze Factory which produces food for six hospitals and 17 healthcare centres in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Masakhane reports to the Special Projects Directorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malotana, Motha and Lecholo allegedly received \u201cin excess of R8-million\u201d for their supposed assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was allegedly followed by a R3-million kickback payment when BAS Med was selected to form part of a panel of service providers that would supply hospitals in Gauteng with orthopaedic equipment and implants for surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane has seen bank statements which show that close to R2-million of this amount was wired from BAS Med\u2019s bank account to two companies which were alleged to have links to the officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane was able to identify a link between the officials and only one of the two companies, via the company director, although he denied facilitating any payments to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from the above payment there appears to be no visible money trail between the trio and BAS Med\u2019s Armstrong. The whistleblower claimed this was because the bulk of the kickbacks were paid in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is most remarkable about his allegations is that the insider implicates himself in the scheme admitting to being \u201cpresent on some occasions when cash payments for these government purchase orders were prepared or paid to the officials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right of Reply <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane sent detailed questions to the officials and Armstrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Responding through his lawyers, Armstrong denied the allegations but declined to answer any questions because of the ongoing investigation by the Hawks and the SIU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His lawyers said, \u201cOur clients are currently and have since approximately<\/p>\n\n\n\n September\/October 2022 given their co-operation with the investigations and will do so in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur clients deny the allegations as contained in your letter under reply and reserve the right to answer thereto in the correct forum and at the appropriate time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malotana gave a similar response, saying he could not respond due to ongoing investigations that he has \u201cfully cooperated\u201d with and was awaiting its \u201coutcome with anticipation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remain committed to set record straight on most of the issues raised in the inquiry at the appropriate time,\u201d he ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Motha also declined to respond while Lecholo told us, \u201cI would have loved to respond to the questions but however I won\u2019t be able to because the matter is still under investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hawks confirmed to amaBhungane that investigations were ongoing; however no one has been charged.<\/p>\n\n\n Masakhane <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, BAS Med was awarded a three-year tender to manufacture and supply plastic containers to package frozen food made by Gauteng Health\u2019s Masakhane Cook Freeze factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Masakhane supplies over 115 000 meals to patients at six hospitals and 17 community health centres on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-year contract was effective from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2019 in which period it was estimated that Masakhane would need at least 1.5 million three-divisional trays, 200 000 lids, and 150 000 small desert tubs every year for the next three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the tender was awarded \u201cmultiple meetings\u201d took place between Armstrong, Malotana, Motha and Lecholo, said the whistleblower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was present at these meetings, where it was discussed and agreed that these Gauteng Department of Health officials would receive a cash payment upon my signature of the contract,\u201d said the insider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe amount agreed upon was R6 million in total as the contract was estimated to be valued at approximately R31 million.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was close to 20% of the tender\u2019s total value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tender award information published on the Gauteng provincial government\u2019s open tender portal shows that 16 companies responded to the tender advert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bidders were scored on technical compliance with the tender specifications as well as price and BEE-status using the 90\/10 preference point system outlined in the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is very little public information about the technical and price evaluation scores that each bidder received but the award form shows that BAS Med was the only company to receive 10 points for BEE while the rest of the bidders\u2019 points were under five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is clear is BAS Med\u2019s submission was not the most affordable option in terms of price, which accounted for 90% of the points in the second stage of the evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At R31-million, the company\u2019s three-year bid was the third highest of the 16 bids that were received by Gauteng Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A <\/strong>\u201csaint\u201d with inside information<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider alleged that BAS Med\u2019s advantage was not due to its technical expertise but was rather based on the company having \u201ccontact[s]\u201d that would \u201cassist with the approval\u201d of its application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, the plastic container tender was advertised in the government gazette on 10 April but emails show that BAS Med was given a two-week head start to prepare its submission after receiving the tender specifications from Motha on 23 March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whistle-blower provided the Hawks with a thread of emails which reveal that Motha sent the specifications to Armstrong using his Gauteng Health email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the email thread, the official simply tells Armstrong to \u201cnote\u201d the attachment of the specifications that are concealed under a liquor store flyer cover page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Motha refused to respond to written questions sent by amaBhungane, noting in an email that he \u201creserved his rights\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, in a brief conversation with one of amaBhungane\u2019s reporters over the phone, Motha would not confirm if he sent Armstrong the specifications and tried to suggest that someone else, with access to his email, may have sent the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also denied receiving any kickbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you saw me, you would not see R6-million. I am a saint,\u201d said Motha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was emphatic that as a \u201cmere deputy director\u201d he had no \u201cinfluence\u201d over tender processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy point of understanding is [that] when you work in the contract management unit or when you advertise the tender you\u2019re the one who will sit there and adjudicate\u201d said Motha. \u201cI am not even the [chief financial officer] who can direct the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve never sat on this [tender] and I put it record,\u201d Motha said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hand-holding <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Documents sourced by amaBhungane show that Motha\u2019s colleague and associate, Sheriff Lecholo, an assistant director in the contract management unit in supply chain, was<\/em> part of the tender process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bidders were required to submit samples of their products for testing by Masakhane as part of the technical evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s because the products needed by Masakhane were highly specialised and not run-of-the-mill containers that could be sourced easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, the three-divisional container was supposed to withstand temperatures of between – 30\u00b0C and 150\u00b0C without breaking or affecting food quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BAS Med, a medical devices company, had no experience in food packaging manufacturing but, the insider claimed, they were \u201cgiven samples of the plastic containers by Mr Sheriff Lecholo\u201d which were then submitted for the bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lecholo is also accused of allowing the company to amend its submissions, including its pricing after BAS Med had submitted its tender on 30 April, which was also the closing date for all submissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI received a phone call from [Armstrong] on the evening of Sunday 3 May 2015 regarding [the] tender\u2026 which we had submitted on 30 April 2015. He advised that we needed to decrease the pricing and was irate because our company tax clearance certificate was apparently not included with the tender submission.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider said Armstrong informed him that these documents had to be submitted by \u201cthe following Monday morning prior to the adjudication committee meeting\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI emailed the pricing and tax clearance certificate to Mr Landus Armstrong, and then handed the original documents to Mr Sheriff Lecholo at the Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg on Monday 4 May 2015,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emails show that BAS Med was submitted its financials more than three months after the closing date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the tender advert made provision for companies to submit alternative documents if they had not yet traded or were briefly in operation, an examination of BAS Med\u2019s submissions by amaBhungane shows that it did not submit those either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, the financials for \u201cthe four months ended June 15\u201d were sent to Lecholo\u2019s work email inbox on 12 August 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lecholo then forwarded the financials to the Gauteng Health official who appeared as a contact on the Masakhane tender advert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tender document stipulated that these were supposed to be originals \u201cnot faxed copies\u201d so it\u2019s not clear how BAS Med\u2019s email submission was accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tender also warned that failure to submit the financials \u201cmay result in disqualification\u201d but it appears this was not applied to BAS Med.<\/p>\n\n\n Instant red flags <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Email communication shows that Masakhane started complaining about BAS Med\u2019s services almost immediately after the company had signed its contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A review of internal emails between Masakhane\u2019s management, department officials and BAS Med shows that the company could barely deliver on the container quantities needed to prepare food for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At some point, the company tried discretely to buy the containers from Plastform, one of the companies who lost the bid for the same tender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou promised us deliveries of containers since 1 April 2016. On Friday 22 April you deliver 5 000 containers with lids. And further promises were made to deliver on Monday 25 April 2016,\u201d reads an email sent to BAS Med and other departmental officials by Masakhane\u2019s David Van Zyl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI received a call from another company that you bought the 5 000 containers from them. So you were lying to us from the start,<\/strong>\u201d said Van Zyl. (Emphasis not added)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In another email, Van Zyl said Masakhane, which produces an average of 5 500 meals on a working day, \u201ccame to a standstill\u201d on 26 April when, after four weeks, BAS Med only managed to deliver 5 000 containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BAS Med was only able to fulfil its orders because it approached one of the losing bidders, Plastform, with a request to buy 50 000 units from them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is corroborated by a BAS Med bank statement which shows a payment of over R231 000 was made to Plastform\u2019s parent company on 29 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The correspondence does not explain why BAS Med could not procure the containers from the supplier it named as a subcontractor in its bid application documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, again, as the whistle-blower explained to the Hawks, the company \u201chad no clue about food packaging\u201d because it specialised in medical devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emails show that Gauteng Health\u2019s supply chain director for contract management Rose Phashe and her assistant Lecholo were, at all relevant times, made aware of the challenges and were seemingly unperturbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It appears that even though the company failed to meet its contractual obligations from the start there were no consequences from the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, BAS Med went on to concretise its contract with the department on 17 May by concluding a service level agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider said that in the first week of May, \u201cat around 7h00 in the morning\u201d, Armstrong paid a visit to Phashe\u2019s office where he apologised for the stock crisis created by BAS Med.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armstrong was allegedly \u201cmet by Edgar Motha to deliver R100 000 in cash as token of gratitude for assistance in resolving the complaints from Masakhane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cash was handed to Mr Motha who indicated that he would hand it over to Ms Phashe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phashe, who retired from the department in 2021, categorically denied any allegations of receiving money from BAS Med or giving the company any special treatment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/strong>I don\u2019t even know anything about R100 000 and if Motha went around getting that money in my name, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Phashe said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, Phashe said she did not recall the specifics of the tender but said the end user being Motha, was responsible for the management of the contract and could better explain how BAS Med was engaged by the department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends in high places<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the midst of this, BAS Med submitted a bid for another tender at Gauteng Health to be part of a panel of service providers who would supply orthopaedic implants for spine and shoulder surgeries at various public hospitals in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company submitted its bid in February 2016 and was awarded the tender in April 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time, the \u201ccomrades\u201d wanted \u201cR3-million in cash in advance and then a percentage of the invoice value of each surgical procedure we completed during the tender period\u201d, claimed the whistle-blower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But exactly what the officials were going to be paid for this time is not as clear because, based on what the insider wrote in his affidavit, BAS Med did not lean on the trio for assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider told the Hawks that Armstrong had advised him to not apply for the tender because \u201cthere was no \u2018contact\u2019 at the Department of Health to assist with the approval.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI applied for this tender because we had been servicing hospitals with our spine implants and instruments, and I had introduced our range of products to the various heads of orthopaedic departments at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and George Mukhari Academic Hospital,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three weeks before the tender was awarded, he said Armstrong informed him that the Gauteng Health officials wanted to meet to talk about the orthopaedics tender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was displeased with this request since I believed our technical specifications, pricing and administrative compliance were sound, and that we had been awarded this tender purely based on merit,\u201d the insider stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insider\u2019s account and publicly available information shows that the tender was advertised twice in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first tender was published on 5 February and it closed on 19 February. However, after the tender validity was extended twice, the tender was cancelled. The second tender was advertised on 16 September and closed in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the insider is adamant that there was no \u201cdepartmental involvement\u201d that led to BAS Med being selected to be on the panel, he does admit to receiving an internal departmental document with specifications ahead of the first tender being advertised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As early as 20 January, BAS Med was in possession of a \u201csubmission to advertise\u201d document that was sent to the members of the department\u2019s bid adjudication for approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The internal document included the specifications of the tender and the minutes of the previous meetings held by the bid specification committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not clear if Malotana, the acting head of department, who was the chief director of special projects and CEO of Emergency Services at the time, was a member of the adjudication committee; but emails shows that he was one of the recipients of the email addressed to committee members on 19 January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At around 3.00 am the next day, the insider’s documents show, Malotana forwarded this email to Motha who then sent it to Armstrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mamotlaletsi<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A meeting was held with Malotana, Motha and Lecholo at a restaurant in Fordsburg where the officials allegedly asked for the R3-million upfront payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDespite my contestation and outright disagreement with this arrangement,\u201d said the insider, the officials were each paid close to a million each through electronic transfers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A bank statement shows that on 26 April 2017, two payments of over R900 000 were made from BAS Med\u2019s account to two recipients that were alleged to have links to the officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The balance from the R3-million was paid from one of Armstrong\u2019s other companies, possibly Bhekani Abantu Security Services, said the insider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the BAS Med payment references is \u201cMamotlaletsi\u201d which amaBhungane traced to a company by the same name whose sole director, Moses Ndlovu, appears to be linked to the three officials, judging by Facebook photographs accessed by amaBhungane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ndlovu closed his Facebook page shortly after we questioned him about these relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When amaBhungane visited Mamotlaletsi\u2019s business address in Eldorado Park, which is also Ndlovu\u2019s home, we took note of a black Range Rover vehicle with the same registration as one that was pictured in a photo Malotana uploaded on Facebook in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The image shows Malotana\u2019s two children posing at the back of the car at what looks like a soccer game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, Ndlovu uploaded a picture of the same vehicle on a trip to Mabalstaad in the North West. When Motha\u2019s white Mercedes Benz was hijacked in 2022, Ndlovu put out a call for assistance to locate the vehicle on his Facebook page. When the vehicle was later recovered, Ndlovu thanked his Facebook followers for their help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contacted by amaBhungane, Ndlovu confirmed that he was questioned by the Hawks early last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He told amaBhungane, \u201cThis thing scares me; I don\u2019t know further where it will end and I have to safeguard myself and leave it at the questions that the police asked me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He explained that he knew Armstrong because Armstrong had bought equipment from him related to security.<\/p>\n\n\n He however denied facilitating any payments or bribes to the Gauteng Health officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Responding to the allegation that he is friends with the officials, Ndlovu also denied this and claimed to not know anything about photos of him with these officials on his Facebook page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know them generally, I\u2019ll say generally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/the-players-1.jpg\")
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Ndlovu also had about ten pictures of Malotana, Lecholo and Motha on his Facebook page in various combinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1000-FOLLOWERS-12-1024x711.png\")
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Frame 3: Ndlovu (left) and Lecholo (right) playing DJ at a party. Source: Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n