Covid-19 Corruption Continues in South Africa - Report

An investigation by the Daily Maverick has found that the ICU field hospital project in Gauteng, which has still not yielded a single new bed months after the Covid-19 wave has passed Gauteng, will cost close to R2-billion and payments to the four construction consortia that bagged the still undisclosed tenders had already amounted to R356-million by the end of July. Daily Maverick's investigation progressed on the basis of reports, whistle-blowers and visiting some of the hospitals. As it did it, became apparent that fruitless and irregular expenditure is an epidemic and, as was pointed out regularly by the Auditor-General, is costing the country billions, writes Mark Heywood. Daily Maverick's investigation comes after a number of well-connected politicians landed in the spotlight for alleged cronyism and nepotism in the awarding of contracts to supply personal protective equipment.