South Africa’s Hawks arrested a 37-year-old man in an investigation into corruption, procurement fraud and money laundering involving 635 million rand ($37 million) at Tembisa Hospital. He was detained at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport after returning from abroad. Investigators say hospital officials colluded with service providers to keep individual transactions below 500,000 rand and bypass formal tender procedures. He is expected to face fraud, corruption and money laundering charges in a Specialized Commercial Crimes Court. Authorities have not named the man.
The arrest is part of a broader investigation into claims that more than 2 billion rand was looted from the public hospital. South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit previously identified three coordinated syndicates that it says used networks of companies and thousands of irregular transactions to divert hospital funds. The procurement activity was initially flagged by Gauteng Health Department whistleblower Babita Deokaran, who was murdered in 2021.
