Health department infrastructure boss Mlamli Tuswa has been found guilty of soliciting a bribe, arranging a R30,000 salary for a friend in exchange for lucrative Coega tenders and paying a Port Elizabeth company exorbitant rates to change light bulbs at health facilities in the Eastern Cape.
Tuswa was found guilty on four of the five charges levelled against him by the provincial health department’s disciplinary committee on Monday, after an internal hearing that took place over 11 days.
He was found not guilty on a charge of failing to maintain health facilities in the province.
Tuswa, who failed to respond to telephone calls or Whats App messages, is allegedly the man behind a corruption linkage between the Coega Development Corporation and the department.
The corporation was hired by the department as an implementing agent, but relations between Coega and health department bosses soon became fraught after allegations of bullying, bribery and corruption surfaced.
Advocate Amon Nyondo, who chaired the committee and wrote the findings of the hearing, declined to comment on Thursday, saying it would be unprofessional.
“As the chairperson of the committee, it is highly improper to have any comment related to a disciplinary matter,” he said. Health spokesperson Lwandile Sicwetsha said the department had yet to receive a report from the disciplinary committee.
“Procedurally, a report should be submitted to the department on the outcome of hearings.”
Tuswa was found guilty on the first charge by Nyondo for soliciting a bribe from Shephard Mzinyathi, whose company, Shepcon Group, did work for the department through Coega in 2014.
Mzinyathi testified that he had been instructed by Tuswa to give his friend, Mkhuseli Msila, a job, according to the findings.
“Tuswa had told Mzinyathi that Msila and his family had a contribution in his upbringing,” Nyondo stated.
Msila, who was not hired by Mzinyathi, then instead offered to form a partnership, in which his company would be put on the list of contractors for the maintenance of health facilities.
The Shepcon Group would be expected to provide all the vehicles, tools and labour for the work and, in return, would receive 30% of the profit, according to the findings.
“Msila’s company would take 70% for him and Tuswa,” Nyondo wrote.
But Mzinyathi refused to be a part of the plan.
“Tuswa solicited gratification from Mzinyathi for Msila.
“The fact that Msila was never actually taken on ... did not alter the charge,” Nyondo wrote.
On the second charge, Tuswa was found guilty of eventually securing a R30,000a-month job and a vehicle for Msila through another company, Zamazondo Construction, owned by Nkoliso Flatela.
Tuswa, Msila and Flatela held a meeting at an eatery in Mthatha also four years ago, where details of the bribe were discussed.
“Tuswa told Flatela that Msila was interested in business and that Tuswa was going to support them by making sure that they got business,” Nyondo stated.
Flatela admitted during the hearing that he had hired Msila on an agreed R30,000 salary and supplied him with a Toyota Fortuner.
“Flatela did not have a vacancy for Msila when he employed him,” Nyondo stated.
“He employed him on the word of Tuswa because he knew Tuswa was in charge of projects ... he expected Tuswa to give him more work from the [department] via [Coega].”
Flatela’s company was then given work at three hospitals in the province, with one at St Barnabas Hospital in Libode worth R4m. But it was this R4m project that caused tension between Flatela, Msila and Tuswa after another company replaced Zamazondo Construction at the hospital.
The three then met at Mike’s Kitchen in Mthatha, where Tuswa told Flatela to “cool down” and that he would fix the problem.
“But after the meeting, Tuswa did not take Flatela’s calls,” Nyondo stated.
A few months later, Flatela parted ways with Msila.
During the hearing, Tuswa admitted that he had introduced Msila to Flatela but only because they worked in the same industry.
“I conclude that the evidence was overwhelming to demonstrate that Tuswa sought gratification for Msila from service providers,” the report said.
Nyondo said Flatela and Mzinyathi were consistent with their evidence and key claims made by them were not challenged by Tuswa.
Msila could not be reached for comment.
A woman, who refused to give her name, answered his phone and said he was away.
For the fourth and fifth charges, a forensics investigation found numerous irregularities in the financial management of Tuswa’s unit.
A sample of 10 payment batches were found to have not complied with the Public Finance Management Act while other invoices failed to detail the work carried out by the companies.
The Jelani Group, owned by Chuma Jack and Thandile Jack and based in Port Elizabeth, was mentioned as having charged R7,393 to fix a light switch at a health facility 506km from the city.
“[The company also] travelled over 1,000km to fix bulbs in facilities of the department,” the report said.
It charged R17,490 to replace light bulbs at a clinic almost 600km from Port Elizabeth and received R1.3m between June 2017 and August 2017.
“[These were] circumstances where the expenses are not cost-effective,” Nyondo stated.
“Tuswa bears responsibility for the economical and effective use of the resources of the department.
“Where there are transgressions in the work, the official who is in charge of that area bears the brunt.”
Asked for comment, Thandile said his company would only carry out work after the implementing agent requested it to do so.
“Once we got the work orders we simply went. We never questioned it,” he said.
Thandile said they would then claim a 15% mark-up on stock used at the facilities along with petrol and labour.
“This would add up to the total value we charged. But sometimes they would tell us a light bulb needed to be changed but we would find that wiring needed to be replaced.”
Thandile said he was unsure why his company was specifically mentioned in the report as it only did work requested to be carried out by the implementing agent.
“We just reacted when we were asked to do work,” he said.
On the fixing of the light switch, he said: “I don’t think that is true. We would never charge to just fix a light switch. It is ridiculous.”
Nyondo requested that mitigation of sentencing start on Tuesday.