South Africa warns COVID-19 corruption puts 'lives at risk'

South Africa's COVID-19 response is marred by corruption allegations around its historic USD 26 billion economic relief package, as the country with the world's fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases braces for more. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a wide-ranging investigation into claims that unscrupulous officials and private companies are looting efforts to protect the country's 57 million people.

“More so than at any other time, corruption puts our lives at risk,” he said in a national address Thursday night. Food for the poor. Personal protective equipment for health workers. Grants for the newly laid off. All have been pilfered, he said.

South Africa is seen as the best-prepared of any country in sub-Saharan Africa for COVID-19, but years of rampant corruption have weakened institutions, including the health system. In October, the head of the government's Special Investigating Unit said fraud, waste and abuse in health care siphoned off USD 2.3 billion a year.

The unit is already investigating more than 20 cases of corruption related to the COVID-19 relief money, spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said. South Africa now has more than 434,000 confirmed virus cases — well over half of the continent's total — and over 6,600 deaths, while a new report has suggested the real death toll could be higher. Public hospitals struggle and some health workers are openly scared. More than 5,000 of them have been infected.

While nurses and others plead for more protection, overpricing scams for badly needed supplies are on the rise. After inflating face mask prices by up to 900%, companies Sicuro Safety and Hennox Supplies admitted guilt and were fined. In South Africa's new virus epicenter, Gauteng province, a company supplying the government with PPE, Royal Bhaca, charged more than four times the regular price — or about $3.50 — per surgical mask. Sanitizer was almost twice the price, or $5 for a 500ml bottle, according to an investigation by The Sunday Independent newspaper.

Even Dis-Chem, a popular pharmacy, was fined for inflating the price of masks. At health workers union Hospersa, general secretary Noel Desfontaines welcomed the government's acknowledgement of the trouble.

“The health minister tells us that enough money has been distributed for PPE to provinces, but when we go to hospitals we do not see this,” Desfontaines said. “In some cases, it has been purchased but it does not reach the people it was intended for.” Pandemic-related corruption has been reported across South Africa.

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