R42.4 million linked to hospital corruption scandal frozen by Special Investigating Unit

The Special Investigating Unit has frozen assets worth R42.4 million in connection with its ongoing investigation into a corruption scandal at Tembisa Hospital.

The investigation has uncovered that more than R2 billion had been looted from the hospital by three coordinated procurement syndicates.

The frozen assets include cash, properties, pension benefits, and investments linked to bribes allegedly paid to Tembisa Hospital officials by businessman Stefan Govindraju.

Govindraju was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport last month and faces 70 charges including fraud, theft, money laundering, and other corruption-related offences.

It’s alleged that he paid R100 million in bribes to hospital officials to secure procurement deals valued at R600 million.

Govindraju is expected to appear before the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Tuesday, 29 September, for plea and sentence proceedings.

Last September, the SIU identified the Maumela, Mazibuko, and Govindraju syndicates as the three major syndicates involved.

SIU spokesperson Selby Makgotho revealed that the Special Tribunal had granted the SIU a preservation order last month.

The order prevents the disposal of assets belonging to Zacharia Tshisele, who was appointed operational manager of Tembisa Hospital’s theatre in 2017.

The SIU found that Tshisele had used his position to initiate supply chain processes and facilitate payments to companies linked to two of the three syndicates.

The preservation order freezes his government pension, valued at over R1 million, as well as two properties in Kempton Park and Boksburg, valued at R1.3 million and R820,000, respectively.

Tshisele previously signed an acknowledgement of debt with the SIU in 2025 and has since repaid R13.5 million in four instalments.

The SIU obtained a separate order in May freezing a R6.4 million property in Midstream Estate and R1.8 million in pension benefits linked to former Tembisa Hospital supply chain official Duduzile Nobungwana.

“Preservation orders and payment agreements against Tshisele and Nobungwana bring the total value of preserved cash and assets to about R42.4 million,” Makgotho said.

Recovering money is not enough

Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Madeleine Hicklin, welcomed the SIU’s recovery of R42.4 million in relation to the Tembisa Hospital corruption scandal.

However, she said it is not enough, and called on the Gauteng Department of Health to ensure that hospital officials implicated in wrongdoing face the appropriate disciplinary action.

This includes officials who facilitated the irregular procurement, businesses that benefited, those who allegedly paid the bribes, and all others found to be in connection with the syndicates.

She also said the Department must strengthen its procurement controls and recover all of the funds stolen from the state.

“The R42.4 million recovery is noteworthy,” Hicklin said. “However, it does not prove that the system has been fixed.”

“Instead, it demonstrates the scale of the alleged corruption at Tembisa Hospital and underscores the enormous task ahead to ensure accountability.”

Concerns about corruption at Tembisa Hospital were first raised by Babita Deokaran, a whistleblower and the acting chief director of financial accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health.

In August 2021, Deokaran flagged R850 million in suspicious payments at Tembisa Hospital over a few months and called for a forensic investigation.

Days later, she was killed outside her home in Mondeor, Johannesburg. Six hitmen were arrested in connection with her death, with all six pleading guilty.

Hicklin said the concerns raised by Deokaran should not be allowed to go largely ignored any longer.

“Her report identified 224 service providers implicated in malfeasance associated with the Tembisa procurement scandal,” Hicklin said.

“Yet the department has issued only 116 disciplinary referrals involving 13 officials, and as of December 2025, no criminal charges had been filed.”

Hicklin estimated that at least 15 officials from Tembisa Hospital and the Gauteng Department of Health were involved in alleged corruption, money laundering, and bid rigging.

She said justice will only be served when the full corruption network has been dismantled, the entirety of stolen money recovered, and all those involved had been brought before the courts.