Tribunal dismisses MTN's exception application over R10m cellphone contract with Limpopo Health

CAPE TOWN - Mobile telecommunications giant MTN has suffered a major blow to its reputation in the Special Tribunal adjudicating corruption uncovered by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

The tribunal dismissed MTN’s exception application, in which it sought to be absolved of blame for a R10 million cellphone transaction with the Limpopo Health Department.

In 2020, the department accepted an unsolicited proposal from MTN to supply it with 10,000 cellphones during the COVID-19 pandemic at a cost of R10 million.

The phones were supposed to be used for COVID-19 screening.

But in February, the tribunal found in favour of the SIU, that the transaction was not in line with public finance and procurement laws.

The SIU’s probe found the former head of the Limpopo Health Department, Dr Thokozani Mhlongo, incurred wasteful expenditure when she authorised the procurement and payment of the cellphones.

MTN approached the Special Tribunal to argue its unsolicited proposal to the department could not be considered unlawful, unconstitutional or illegal, and the department could have rejected the offer.

It further argued that the money spent on the cellphones was not in vain, and could not be considered fruitless or wasteful expenditure.

The SIU’s investigation has revealed that 9,588 of the cellphones the department received were not distributed to the intended users.

Furthermore, none of the only 388 cellphones distributed for COVID-19 household screening between September 2020 and March 2021 actually contained the required screening application. 

SIU Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said, "the decision of the Special Tribunal which was handed down on 24 July 2024, dismissed MTN’s exception to the Special Investigating Unit’s claim with costs, including the costs of two counsel.”

The SIU has successfully frozen Mhlongo’s pension after she resigned ahead of disciplinary action.