Suspect in R635m Tembisa Hospital corruption case arrested returning from overseas

A 37-year-old man allegedly linked to the R635 million Tembisa Hospital corruption scandal was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport as he returned to South Africa from overseas.

The suspect was arrested by the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation team on Friday, 28 August, after investigators allegedly linked him to the complex probe into multimillion-rand tender fraud at the hospital.

His arrest is the latest development in the Hawks' efforts to bring those implicated in the Tembisa Hospital procurement saga to book.

The investigation centres on allegations of fraud, corruption, forgery and uttering, contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and money laundering.

The Hawks allege that certain hospital officials colluded with service providers to manipulate the Request for Quotations (RFQ) system for procurement transactions below the R500,000 threshold.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale confirmed the arrest.

According to investigators, the system was allegedly exploited to deliberately circumvent the formal tender process.

The suspect is expected to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrates' Court on Monday, 31 August.

He faces charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The Hawks said the investigation remains focused on ensuring that those involved in the alleged procurement fraud are brought to book