Ramaphosa Authorises Release Of Report On COVID Procurement Contracts

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the public release of the final report by the Special Investigating Unit which reveals that thousands of contracts were awarded irregularly during the procurement of goods and services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office announced he had authorised that the final report on the SIU’s probe into more than 5 400 government contracts be made available to the public.

The SIU found that 2 803 of the contracts that had been finalised were awarded irregularly.

The Presidency’s statement said the unit identified assets and money totalling R551.5 million that needed to be recovered on the basis of its probes. So far, assets and money totalling just over R34 million has been recovered.

Ramaphosa authorised the widescale SIU investigation in July 2020 and more investigations are under way into matters that were reported after that proclamation.

The SIU will submit a supplementary report on those cases to the president at the end of June this year.