During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) used Covid-19 funding meant for personal protective equipment (PPE), to buy flame-retardant mattresses.

This was revealed by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) who, on Tuesday, briefed the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on investigations relating to the Department of Correctional Services.

The SIU said it received an anonymous allegation in August 2020 that the DCS chief financial officer Dzivhuluwani Ligege had awarded PPE contracts to family and friends amounting to more than R53-million.

The SIU established that 25 contracts to the value of more than R46-million had been awarded and that the procurement processes were neither fair nor competitive.

The SIU said it had found no evidence to suggest that more than one service provider was contacted to provide quotations.

"[There was] no evidence that DCS sourced quotations from suppliers, instead a procurement email address was created for suppliers to send quotations," the SIU said.

The SIU further said that Ligege, who has since been suspended, approved all quotations above R500 000, which were above his emergency approval delegation.

The SIU added, "During an interview with the CFO, he advised that he had been given approval by the National Commissioner."

Arthur Fraser was the DCS national commissioner at the time.

"The SIU determined that the deviations were verbally approved by the National Commissioner and signed only months after suppliers were paid."

The SIU added that there was no proper record keeping of delivery notes, therefore they were unable to establish whether any of the goods procured had been delivered.

The SIU found that the proper procurement process had not been followed, which meant that the contracts were irregularly awarded.

Budget constraints

The SIU also found that the DCS had used Covid-19 emergency funding to buy mattresses during the height of the pandemic.

According to the SIU, the need for fire retardant-mattresses had existed since May 2019, which the DCS could not procure due to budget constraints.

The SIU said, "The available evidence indicates that the mattresses were procured with Covid-19 funding although these were not a Covid-19 related commodity."

The SIU added that the DCS health care committee said the prisons needed mattresses that could be washed or decontaminated using liquid sanitisers. The mattresses bought did not meet this specification.

The SIU did not reveal the cost or quantity of these mattresses, but said they were purchased directly from a manufacturer.

On 11 February 2021, the SIU made four disciplinary referrals, including the CFO. While one official resigned, the disciplinary hearings against Ligege and the other two officials was ongoing.

"The SIU's investigation, thus far, revealed that the above officials committed acts and/or may have been responsible for omissions in respect of the procurement of, and contracting for, personal protective equipment and related goods and services during the national state of disaster...  [this] amounts to misconduct, dereliction of duty and/or negligence in the performance of their official duties at the department."