Eastern Cape education senior official and family members in the dock over R2.7m PPE fraud

A senior official at the Eastern Cape education department and some of her family members were arrested by the Hawks in connection with the irregular awarding of a personal protective equipment (PPE) tender.

On Thursday, Nandipha Tembo,  her husband Theophilus Tawanda Tembo, and her brother Mandilakhe Mgwangqa, appeared in the Zwelitsha magistrate's court on charges of fraud and corruption amounting to more than R2.7m.

A tender by the department was awarded to Alinani Trading for the supply and delivery of PPE in schools.

“An SIU investigation revealed that the tender was irregularly awarded to Alinani Trading. SIU investigations into the department of education further revealed that Alinani was paid more than R4m between 2018 and 2020 for tenders that have been found to have been irregularly awarded.

“The SIU successfully applied to the Special Tribunal to have the bank accounts of Alinani frozen and interdicted the department from making any further payments to them in October 2020,” said SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

He said the SIU further instituted civil proceedings in the Special Tribunal to review and set aside the tender, and to recover financial losses suffered by the state.  

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