Mothibi assures attention to Tembisa Hospital crime referrals

The head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), advocate Andy Mothibi, says he has called for all criminal referrals linked to the Tembisa Hospital looting scandal to be attended to, including those mentioning alleged syndicate leaderHangwani Maumela. Mothibi, who briefed the media on Thursday, said when he arrived at the NPA he spoke to his colleague at the Asset Forfeiture Unit about matters that were attracting the unit’s services. “When I was the head of the SIU (Special Investigations Unit), remember we released an interim report.

An interim report indicated that we were dealing with syndicates,” he said. “Some of the syndicates indicated that they were sort of under Maumela.” Mothibi said after the SIU’s recent media briefing, where it released a report on home affairs, he called for all the criminal referrals in the Tembisainvestigationthat had been referred to the NPA to be attended to. He said he indicated that they needed to be attended to, including “where there was a referral of Maumela”.

“All of those will receive attention, I can assure you,” he said. Mothibi also said the SIU, Hawks and NPA had concluded a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the effective handling of SIU referrals. He said his office would convene regular monitoring meetings, adding that they would also address referrals from the Sector Anti-Corruption Forums chaired by the SIU.

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READ|R2bn ruthlessly siphoned off through fraud and corruption at Tembisa hospital – SIU Mothibi also addressed the protection of whistleblowers and witnesses, saying his office would ensure that those who were threatened as a result of the evidence they put forward would continue to be protected. “We are pleased that the government is not sitting on its laurels. The Protected Disclosures Act is receiving attention to ensure it is widened to protect wider whistleblowers,” he said.

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