South African Police Service (Saps) chief financial officer (CFO) Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane has described the tender awarded to Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s company, Medicare24 Tshwane District, as an “embarrassment”.
Dimpane appeared before Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Tuesday, which has now moved to the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
She explained that she did not form part of any structures when the contract was awarded.
It was flagged as a possible irregular expenditure in the first week of March 2024 and confirmed as irregular in May.
Regarding the contract, R466 million was disclosed as irregular expenditure. A few invoices remain in the system for this tender; however, Dimpane has instructed her team to stop the payments.
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When the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) flagged R650 million as irregular within the Saps for the 2024/25 financial year, R466 million of that amount was from the tender.
The remaining amount was from contracts awarded and deemed irregular.
“When you look at the bulk of this irregular expenditure that was flagged in 2024/25, it relates to bids and tenders which are only awarded at the head office supply chain management,” explained Dimpane.
Saps expenditure
Dimpane lamented the lack of accountability and consequence management within the Saps.
“You have irregular expenditure taking place all over, and managers appointing people to do disciplinary investigations,” she explained.
“When disciplinary investigations come out, the outcome is that a person must receive a written warning or corrective counselling. These, to me, are not real consequence management because they do not deter this behaviour.
“You have people who are doing procurement and breaking the rules of procurement. Is this deliberate to commit fraud? This is a culture in Saps where people commit irregular expenditure, and there is no serious accountability. This is a concern.”
Dimpane said she approached the national commissioner after reports surfaced about Matlala’s contract.
“We told him this particular contract has caused a lot of harm in the department, there is reputational damage, and the organisation is in disrepute,” she explained.
“The damage is too much. It’s an embarrassment; we’re tired of management not dealing with irregular expenditure the way it’s supposed to. So we suggested a forensic investigation.”
The investigation is expected to be concluded in December.
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