Luxury cars were among the items seized from a large three-storey mansion in Sandton linked to Hangwani Maumela during a raid yesterday which forms part of a three-year investigation into Tembisa Hospital corruption.

News24 reports that Maumela allegedly used 41 companies to extract R820m over two years from the hospital through fraudulent contracts. He is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s nephew from a previous marriage, although Ramaphosa has consistently denied any relationship with him.

Three Lamborghinis, a massage parlour, and a fully equipped home salon were among the displays of wealth which greeted investigators. 

The Special Investigating Unit , SAPS, and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officers descended on the sprawling fortress-like property in a co-ordinated operation to seize assets as part of a broader forfeiture case linked to the alleged hospital looting.

The Asset Forfeiture Unit had previously obtained court orders to seize all of Maumela’s properties and assets, including the Sandton mansion and other homes in Bantry Bay in Cape Town, and Ballito in Durban, with a collective worth of R320m.

In an interim report released by the SIU in September, it identified syndicates connected to Maumela as having secured the largest portion of the stolen funds.

Meanwhile, the family of slain whistle-blower Babita Deokaran has rejected the call to have Tembisa Hospital renamed after her, according to another News24 report.

After she blew the whistle on financial irregularities at Tembisa Hospital, Deokaran, a Gauteng Health Department employee, was shot dead by six assailants on 23 August 2021 outside her home in Mondeor, Johannesburg.

In a post on the Justice for Babita Deokaran Facebook page, her sister Renu Williams said the family was ‘absolutely not on board’ with putting Deokaran’s name on the hospital because of the current state and condition it was in.

‘We definitely do not want her name on it,' she said after numerous calls on social media sites about renaming the facility after her sister. She said the best way to honour Deokaran was to make the hospital corruption-free, improve working conditions for staff, and provide quality, dignified medical care to every patient who walks through its doors.

‘Should Tembisa Hospital ever be cleaned up, in every way possible, we may reconsider,’ she said.

‘And of course, what better way to honour her than for us to ensure that the mastermind/s behind her assassination are arrested and held accountable?’ she added.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko have been accused of failing to take meaningful action against employees and service providers implicated in the looting of Tembisa Hospital, reports the Cape Times.

In its interim report into corruption at Tembisa Hospital, the SIU found that officials at the Gauteng Department of Health and hospital staff abdicated their duties, allowing the looting of more than R2bn to go unabated.

During the release of the SIU report last month, Nkomo-Ralehoko said that since her appointment in October 2022, her administration has been hard at work to ensure that remedial action in relation to allegations of corruption at the hospital are fast-tracked and that governance systems and controls are strengthened.

Nkomo-Ralehoko said 11 officials were identified in the report and were recommended for disciplinary action and criminal charges. 

However, the DA expressed disappointment about progress of the disciplinary action, saying not a single company implicated has been blacklisted, while the pension funds of those who had retired or resigned had not been frozen. 

DA spokesperson for health in the province, Madeleine Hicklin said of 177 forensic investigations conducted in the province, 76 have been released and most are heavily redacted.

‘Premier Lesufi continues to shield GDoH officials, including the HOD and Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko,' she said.

Gauteng Health said blacklisting of companies will take place after the SIU issues a final report, adding the interim report does not include the names of service providers.

Lesufi's spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, said the accusations were baseless and ill-informed as Lesufi initiated the SIU investigation.

First News24 report

Second News24 report

Full Cape Times report