The company behind the R500 000 Tembisa Hospital skinny jeans scandal has a new owner – a man who is now the controlling hand of 54 entities red-flagged by Babita Deokaran before her assassination.

According to News24 report, Dr Stefan Joel Govindraju now directs the group of companies which saw R116m in dubious trade from the hospital, his conglomerate accounting for nearly a quarter of the 217 ‘possibly fraudulent’ entities unearthed by the whistle-blower.

In two days, company directors resigned en masse, and ceded control to him.

The companies – shell corporations that used false addresses and exist only on paper – form part of an extraction network that scored hundreds of contracts from the East Rand health facility, providing everything from luxury leather furniture to ventilators.

That Govindraju, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Witwatersrand, took control of all these companies in the space of 48 hours indicates an element of co-ordination, suggests the report, adding his motive – as probes driven by the Special Investigating Unit and the Hawks gain momentum – are unclear.

According to Companies and Intellectual Property Commission records, the 33-year-old assumed directorship of these 54 letterbox companies in the space of two days, between 31 August and 1 September.

He has gone to great lengths to avoid being interviewed by News24 and has blocked its reporter on Telegram.

The report adds that in three visits to a house in Primrose, the official business address of all 54 entities according to CIPC information, there was no answer.

Visits were conducted both during weekday office hours and over the weekend.

Full News24 report