SIU looking into claims Tembisa Hospital corruption extends to other hospitals - Mothibi

JOHANNESBURG - Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head Andy Mothibi says they’re looking into information that the rot uncovered at Tembisa Hospital which slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran flagged, extends to other hospitals too.

Deokaran was killed by hitmen outside her south Joburg home shortly after raising irregularities around R850 million in dodgy payments from Tembisa Hospital.

Mothibi addressed a memorial event to mark the third anniversary of her death on Friday night when he said they had identified around three syndicates at work at Tembisa Hospital.

"Now we’ve had whistleblowers coming through, the team is engaging with whistleblowers who worked with one of the syndicates that allege the syndicates involved are involved in other hospitals."

Mothibi said they were still verifying the information.

"The information is currently being verified by the Special Investigating Team, the e-Gov and the Treasury. So we’ll either be expanding the proclamation or getting new proclamations to investigate at other hospitals."

READ: Babita Deokaran assassination 3 years on: 'We feel her loss every day' - nephew

Mothibi also revealed that investigators working on the Deokaran case have been facing security threats.

A News24 report published earlier on Friday revealed that since her death, the SIU has uncovered that R3 billion was potentially looted from Tembisa Hospital.

Mothibi honed in on the risks their probe has come with for those involved.

"It’s been very complex and the safety issues have been raised with us, the investigators when they leave from Pretoria to Tembisa, because they did indicate that they’ve picked up indications of threats, so we contacted the crime investigation and we are working withe the police to ensure we are not distracted in doing our work."