Hawks and Tembisa Hospital officials in court over alleged R100,000 bribe

A Directorate for Priority Crime (DPCI) sergeant and a Tembisa Hospital official will appear in court today, 24 November, on charges of corruption.

This comes after they attempted to bribe a Hawks officer to interfere with an ongoing investigation.

This comes after the Special Investigating Unit’s ongoing investigation revealed in September that over R2 billion had been looted from the Tembisa Hospital, something that slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran had attempted to flag in 2021.

On Sunday, the spokesperson of the DPCI, also known as the Hawks, Thandi Mbambo, said that the suspects were arrested following a meeting arranged with a Hawks officer where the hospital official offered a R100,000 bribe.

“It is alleged that on Friday, 21 November 2025, a DPCI officer was approached by a 41-year-old suspect, a Sergeant from the DPCI,” Mbambo said.

“The Sergeant informed the officer that a 53-year-old Tembisa Hospital official wanted to meet regarding an ongoing investigation linked to the hospital.”

She added that the Sergeant indicated that the hospital official was willing to offer gratification to prevent prosecution in the ongoing investigation.

Unlike their colleague, the Hawks officer was not corrupted by the bribe and alerted the DPCI about the meeting.

“On Sunday, 23 November 2025, the Hawks member and the Tembisa Hospital official met with the complainant, the investigator in the case, and handed over R100,000 cash as gratification,” Mbambo said.

“An operation authorised by the Director of Public Prosecutions was subsequently executed by the DPCI’s Serious Corruption Investigation unit leading to the arrest of both the Sergeant and the Tembisa Hospital official.”

According to the spokesperson, both suspects are expected to appear before the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Monday, 24 November 2025, facing charging charges of corruption.

Acting head of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Siphosihle Nkosi, said that the investigations into the looting at Tembisa Hospital will continue “without deterrence.”

“We also emphasise that those within the DPCI who involve themselves in criminal activities will be rooted out of the organisation,” he added.

Over R2 billion looted

The SIU’s interim report, published at the end of September, involved the analysis of 2,207 procurement bundles, revealing extensive irregularities in the awarding of contracts and the management of public funds.

A total of 207 service providers have been implicated, linked to 4,501 purchase orders (POs) that were supposedly processed through a competitive three-quote procurement system.

“The officials selfishly abused their positions within every step of the Tembisa Hospital procurement chain to the benefit of fraudulently appointed service providers and to ultimately enrich themselves,” the SIU interim report notes

The probe was set in motion after the assassination of whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, a single mother of a daughter and chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health.

Investigations by News24’s investigations unit uncovered how Deokaran had flagged R850 million worth of suspicious Tembisa Hospital payments that had occurred over just a few months, just days before she was brutally murdered.

So far, the report has linked the three criminal syndicates to the looting. The first is the Mazibuko syndicate, linked to Rudolph Mazibuko.

The report said that 651 procurement bundles valued at R283 million had been linked to Mazibuko.

Another syndicate was linked to Hangwani Morgan Maumela, which the report said was involved in 1,728 bundles valued at R816 million.

Following a court order, the SIU froze and seized over R300 million of Maumela’s assets.

Instead of preventing the fraud, the Gauteng Department of Health allegedly enabled it, ignoring complaints and turning a blind eye to widespread corruption.

Civil society group OUTA has called for the immediate suspension of implicated staff, prosecution of all individuals involved, and a full audit of Gauteng’s 37 state hospitals to prevent similar fraud.

They argue that more funding is needed for the SIU and stronger protection for whistle-blowers and investigators.