JOHANNESBURG – The Special Investigating Units’ special tribunal has granted an order freezing almost R38.7 million from several bank accounts of almost 40 Gauteng based companies linked to the looting of COVID-19 funds.
The SIU has identified the province's former chief financial officer Kabelo Lehloenya and chief director for supply chain management Thandy Pino as the enablers of the controversial contracts that were entered into with the provincial health department. Three companies were already facing criminal charges after the investigating unit opened cases with the police.
The SIU's special tribunal spokesperson Selby Makgotho said the Gauteng health department has also been interdicted from making any further payments to the forty companies implicated. “The special tribunal also ordered that the pension benefits of the former CFO who is cited as one of the respondents be interdicted through so the Government Employee Pension Fund has been interdicted from paying her pension fund pending the completion of investigation by the SIU.”