• The Special Tribunal has rejected an application from MTN to excuse it from an ongoing investigation that saw it make R10 million from an alleged dodgy tender deal.
• MTN received R10 million from the Limpopo Department of Health for the delivery of 10 000 mobile phones, but only 388 were delivered by the department.
• Government investigators are looking to recoup all funds transacted as part of the deal.

South Africa’s Special Tribunal, which is mandated to recover public funds from dodgy tender agreements and government corruption, has thrown out an application from MTN, one of the largest telecoms in Africa, to look away from a shadowy COVID-19 era agreement between the company and the Limpopo Heath Department.

The agreement, which the corruption-busting Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been sleuthing out, allegedly saw MTN coin R10 million from the department for the provision of 10 000 mobile phones in a deal that didn’t follow government protocols.

These 10 000 phones were supposed to be used for COVID-19 screening of potential patients, but the deal only saw the department deliver 388 of the 10 000 devices it received, despite the full R10 million paid out to MTN. The SIU’s investigation is ongoing, with MTN implicated, and the goal is recovery of the funds in full.

The Special Tribunal “dismissed MTN’s exception to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) claim with costs, including the costs of two counsels,” the unit said in a press statement last week. 9 588 mobile phones are still unaccounted for, and the SIU is placing the blame on the former head of Limpopo health, Dr Thokozani Florence Mhlongo.

Mhlongo resigned from the post following the launch of the investigation.

“The SIU has instituted a civil action in the Special Tribunal to review and set aside the contract and recover financial losses suffered by the Limpopo Department of Health. So far, the SIU has successfully interdicted the pension payout of Dr Mhlongo after she resigned from her position as head of the department in the face of disciplinary action,” it added.

The SIU is one of South Africa’s busiest government agencies, following up on investigations into various government deals and projects. The unit is actively investigating in and drawing funds back from Home Affairs, PRASA, NSFAS and many different local provincial governments across South Africa.

Through agreements with Interpol and several international development agencies, the unit has bolstered its cybercrime and data analytics processes in order to improve its capabilities in South Africa.