Gauteng’s Head of Health, Lesiba Arnold Malotana, was suspended with immediate effect, following revelations of the looting of more than R2bn at Tembisa Hospital, reported Business Day (15 October 2025).
Premier Panyaza Lesufi has appointed Dr Darion Barclay, the current Head of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as the acting Head of Health.
“Malotana is the first high-profile casualty of the corruption scandal uncovered by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).”
A SIU interim report revealed a web of fraud, identifying tenderpreneur Hangwani Maumela as a central figure in one of three major syndicates. Maumela’s syndicate alone secured an estimated R816m in fraudulent tenders through a network of dozens of front companies. R122m in corrupt payments flowed directly to officials
In 2021 the whistleblower,Babita Deokaran, who revealed the corruption at Tembisa, was murdered.