Hawks raid Ekurhuleni ANC bigshot’s home over Tembisa hospital tender graft

The Hawks have raided the home and businesses of African National Congress (ANC) Ekurhuleni treasurer-general Sello Sekhokho.

Search and seizure operation

Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha confirmed the raid is part of their ongoing investigations into the R1 billion Tembisa Hospital tender graft.

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While Ramovha did not mention the name of the suspect they were investigating, several media reports, including from News24, said the home and business belonged to Sekhokho.

Ramovha said the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team conducted simultaneous search and seizure operations at a house in Bedfordview, and offices in Germiston and Edenvale respectively on Wednesday morning.

No arrests were made.

“The action is informed by the ongoing investigation into alleged tender irregularities that resulted in approximately one billion rand being siphoned from the Gauteng Department of Health. It is a sequel operation to the one that was executed at the Tembisa Hospital premises towards the end of 2022.

“It is a result of tenders attached to the Tembisa Hospital from around 2016 to early 2022. Over 220 entities and various individuals are subjects of an ongoing investigation in respect of numerous allegations.

“This includes schemes that reportedly thrived in infringement of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). These were made possible through tender manipulation, kickbacks, inflated prices and or duplicated invoices amongst other contraventions,” said Ramovha in a statement.

Electronic gadgets, documents seized

The Hawks seized various electronic gadgets as well as documentary proof for further investigation.

“No arrests have been effected at this stage pending further investigation,” Ramovha added.

Three weeks before she was murdered, Gauteng Health Department whistleblower Babita Deokaran flagged payments from Tembisa Hospital to Sekhokho.

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Deokaran was gunned down outside her home in Winchester Hills, south Johannesburg on 23 August 2021, shortly after she dropped off her child at school.

Sekhokho was linked to several of the deals via companies he ran, which had received hundreds of millions of rand in contracts from the Gauteng Department of Health.

Sekhokho has denied the corruption allegations levelled against him.

‘Well-connected political player’

The businessman is said to be a well-connected political player and once ran to be the ANC Youth League Gauteng chairperson.

He is apparently a close political ally of former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina and campaigned on his slate during the ANC Ekurhuleni regional conference in May last year.

Last year, Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko revealed in a written reply to questions from DA that Sekhokho’s three companies – Kaizen Projects, Nokhokhoko Medical Supplies and Bollanoto Security – had received R14.5 million from 55 contracts from Tembisa Hospital alone in the past years.

Sekhokho also scored more than R80 million in tenders from other hospitals in the province despite having no valid certificate to sell medical products.

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