The projects involve the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In a newly signed Proclamation 304 of 2025, the SIU has been mandated to investigate the procurement and contracting processes related to four key project funding agreements for vaccine research and development. These include contracts linked to the development of a National Vaccine Manufacturing Strategy, the finalisation of an overarching vaccine development and manufacturing framework, and projects associated with a Virus-Like Particles (VLP) platform.
The investigation will assess whether the procurement processes and related payments were conducted in a fair, competitive, transparent, equitable and cost-effective manner. It will also examine whether any applicable legislation, National Treasury regulations, practice notes, guidelines, or internal institutional policies and procedures were breached. The scope of the probe includes any irregular, improper or unlawful conduct by officials or employees of the DSTI, TIA, UKZN and CSIR, as well as suppliers, service providers or any other individuals or entities involved in the contracts.
The proclamation covers alleged conduct that occurred between January 1 2021, and December 19 2025. The SIU has also been empowered to recover any financial losses suffered by the State or the affected institutions as a result of wrongdoing uncovered during the investigation. In a separate but related development, President Ramaphosa signed Proclamation 303 of 2025, amending an existing SIU investigation into South African Airways (SAA). The amendment expands the scope of the original Proclamation R.2 of 2020 to include South African Airways Technical, with the institutions now collectively referred to as “the Institutions”.
Read Full Article on The Witness
