By Zavela Makwabe
A health department messenger thought he had a foolproof scam during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But he didn’t think it through properly, got caught and was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for fraud.
At the height of the pandemic in September 2020, the country’s procurement procedures operated differently from the norm. That’s when Ayanda Matinise saw a gap and ordered 700,000 masks.
The 37-year-old from Mthatha signed and sent a forged commitment letter to Falaz Protection Services (Pty) Ltd ordering the KN95 surgical masks, at a cost of R23.7 million. He claimed that the Eastern Cape health department had committed to the procurement.
“Matinise used his proximity to the office of the then MEC, Sindiswa Gomba, to commit the fraud as the country was in the State of Disaster, which allowed for some deviation from the ordinary procurement procedures,” regional National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said on Wednesday.
According to evidence presented to the Specialised Commercial Crimes court in Mthatha, the masks were delivered to the Eastern Cape Department of Health OR Tambo District stores.
Falaz smelt a rat when they wanted their money. A company director even paid Matinise R3,000 to expedite the payment.
But the officials responsible for payment and issuing of commitment letters at the health department had no knowledge of the forged commitment letter.
“The company decided to collect the consignment, but large quantities of it were missing, including 130,000 KN95 masks and 70,000 surgical masks, to the value of R2.6 million,” Tyali said.
He added that Matinise’s version of events had changed at least three times under cross examination.
Matinise has pleaded not guilty to the crimes. Instead, he implicated officials who blew the whistle in what authorities called “large scale corruption”.
It remains unclear what happened to the missing masks or whether Matinise acted on his own.
Pictured above: Ayanda Matinise
Image source: Twitter
