Plans in place to recover money from Digital Vibes, says Mkhize
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that plans were already under way to recover money lost due to fruitless and wasteful expenditure from an irregular contract of R150 million awarded to communications company, Digital Vibes.
A forensic report found that the contract, signed off in 2019, was irregular and contravened National Treasury’s regulations.
The report by Ngubane tax assurance advisory firm has been handed over to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), as well as the president.
Action would now be taken against those in the Department of Health implicated in the awarding of the irregular contact to Digital Vibes without following the right procedures but Minister Mkhize was adamant that he had done nothing wrong.
“As minister, my obligation is to declare any conflict of interest when it arises and in this instance, I had not identified any conflict of interest. I did not participate in the company’s appointment process, I did not in any way influence the selection of employees,” the minister said.
It’s hoped that the money, which could have been better spent elsewhere, would be recovered and Mkhize said that the process was at a sensitive stage.
“This investigation is still ongoing through a flow of funds analysis that is being conducted. It is through this flow analysis that we will also confirm that the department was overcharged for services provided by Digital Vibes and quantified,” Mkhize said.
He insisted that he was not involved in the awarding of the contract nor did he have any links with those who benefited.
Mkhize has also stressed that he would not be stepping aside pending the finalization of more probes into the matter.
-EWN
In other news – Video: Spider-Man shows up at Anele Mdoda’s birthday party and it was lit
TV and radio presenter Anele Mdoda celebrated her 37th birthday at the weekend with her close friends and family and, yes, Spider-Man was also there.
It was nearly impossible to miss him in his red and blue suit as Anele and her guests were all dressed in white. Plus, he performed alongside the TV presenter. Learn More
