Health DG Dr Sandile Buthezi charged with R1m Global Fund fraud

Over R1 million from a global disease-fighting fund was allegedly got funneled into silencing a whistleblower instead of training health workers.

Three top health officials nabbed

• Dr Sandile Buthelezi, the National Department of Health's director-general, was arrested alongside two senior colleagues.
• CFO Phineas Phaswa Mamogale and acting deputy DG Dr Malixole Percival Mahlathi face the same charges.
• All three appeared in Pretoria's Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Monday.
• Bail landed at R10,000 each, with a return date of 3 June.

What the money was supposed to fund

• Global Fund cash targets HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria programs across South Africa.
• Earmarked purposes included staff training and post-COVID psychosocial support.
• Instead, funds allegedly bankrolled a disciplinary hearing against a suspended whistleblower.
• That whistleblower had flagged a separate R1.2 billion fraud in North West's health department.

How the scheme allegedly worked

• Two service providers got contracts without normal tender processes in 2023.
• One of those companies was literally eight days old when it scored the deal.
• Buthelezi faces an additional Public Finance Management Act charge for bypassing spending rules.
• Investigations kicked off in April 2024 after the irregularities surfaced.

Fallout for the health sector

• Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the legal process must run its course.
• All three officials are barred from their offices while proceedings continue.
• Rural clinics and underserved communities absorb the hardest hit when donor funds get diverted.
• Buthelezi was previously linked to the Digital Vibes scandal but got cleared on that one.