30 September 2025
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered a staggering R2 billion looting scheme inside Gauteng’s healthcare system, exposing three powerful syndicates behind the plunder of funds meant for Tembisa Hospital.
Money meant to serve the province’s most vulnerable patients was instead funneled through a maze of fraud, inflated contracts, and collusion between officials and service providers. The SIU calls it one of the most serious betrayals of public trust in years.
The release of the report comes four years after Babita Deokaran, a senior finance official in Gauteng’s Health Department, was assassinated on 23 August 2021 in what many believe was a targeted killing linked to her whistle-blowing on large-scale corruption at Tembisa Hospital.
In the months before her murder, she uncovered irregular, inflated or fraudulent payments linked to Tembisa Hospital and flagged them for investigation
In its interim report, the SIU details how the investigation into Tembisa Hospital has grown in scope and complexity, forcing deeper scrutiny of every transaction.
Despite the scale of the cover-up, investigators have already traced a trail of irregular deals, forged documents, and corrupt payments involving key figures in the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) and hospital leadership.
Source:iol
