We live in a sewer of lies and corruption

by Russell Pollitt SJ

If you think South Africa is making any headway in the fight against corruption, think again. The African National Congress (ANC) thinks it can pull the wool over our eyes, but don’t be fooled. The release of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report into corruption at Tembisa Hospital earlier this week is yet more evidence that corruption is at unprecedented levels. We live in a sewer of lies and corruption.

The scale of corruption at Tembisa Hospital is even more brazen than before. The SIU revealed that R2 billion was stolen from the hospital. Read that again: R2 billion. The head of the SIU, Andy Mothibi, said when releasing the report on 29 September 2025, “This staggering sum of money intended for the provincial provision of healthcare at Tembisa Hospital to take care of the most vulnerable was instead ruthlessly syphoned off through a complex web of fraud and corruption, representing an egregious betrayal of the public trust”. Can you even imagine R2 billion?

What company can survive if it loses that amount of money over five years? And this is not a company we are speaking of. This is a state hospital that operates on taxpayers’ money, administered by officials elected to act on behalf of citizens, to administer the funds they pay in taxes. Think about this again: R2 billion of your hard-earned cash, paid in tax, intended to help the poorest access medical care, has gone, “poof”, with nobody noticing for months.

For decades, the Gauteng Department of Health has been a mess. Remember how the same department murdered poor, vulnerable patients in the Life Esidimeni scandal? Those in power seemed to feel no remorse for that. Has anyone yet been held accountable? Do those in power care?

When the costs of one department in a hospital suddenly skyrocketed to unprecedented amounts, surely the Health Department should have asked questions. That’s Accounting 101: if you notice that an average amount suddenly changes drastically, you ask why, you seek an explanation, and you act. Does the Gauteng Health Department actually have any financial controls in place? R2 billion—from one hospital with 840 beds. And let us face another fact: the MEC for Health, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, has done as little as possible to ensure that justice is done in this horrific tale.

Despite all the assurances that the ANC is working on reform and good governance, the Tembisa Hospital theft reveals that there are simply no checks and balances in the system and that the ANC cannot and will not eradicate the rot. Despite what seems to be overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing, it is also worth noting that it was not the SIU that first revealed where the money went, but rather a journalist from News24, Jeff Wicks.

Babita Deokaran was murdered in cold blood on 23 August 2021 because she tried to do something about the brazen looting at Tembisa Hospital. She lost her life because she uncovered that scoundrels were literally, as the Prophet Amos (who lived 750BC) says, “trampling on the needy” (Amos 8:4). Those who killed her were people who “hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth” (Amos 5:10).

What will happen now? Mr Ramaphosa will be “shocked,” the MEC for Health will get on with life, and the Premier will make more empty promises, assuring us that things are looking up and will be fixed. The spin doctors will be in overdrive. We might even have another commission of enquiry.

Babita Deokaran’s blood flowed because she was uncovering the inconvenient truth, and those who pulled the trigger are, well, R2 billion richer. How does that make you feel?