Gauteng Premier ‘given 24 hours to come clean’ on NASREC tender

The DA and ANC in Gauteng are locked in a bitter feud this week, after their respective leaders in the province traded legal threats. Premier David Makhura had told opposition frontman Jack Bloom to retract his statements on the NASREC field hospital – but the man in the blue corner has doubled down on his assertions.

The NASREC field hospital – what’s got the DA upset?

The NASREC field hospital was set up to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases. But, despite Gauteng bearing the brunt of infections in SA, the facility was barely used. Bloom states that the ‘exorbitant cost’ of the temporary centre needs to be investigated – and the length of the contract itself is a cause of dispute.

• Bloom estimates that about R350 million was spent on only 700 patients, totalling treatment costs of R500k per patient.
• This contract was signed in July and apparently runs from 1 August to 31 January next year – way past the peak of infections.
• Last month, there were ‘only 21 patients’ at the NASREC facility
• An infrastructure establishment fee of about R68 million for various furniture and generators has come under scrutiny.
• Makhura has also been asked to confirm if 1 000 beds were paid for at a tariff of R770 a day per bed, for six months – which amounts to nearly R140 million, even if these beds are not filled with patients.

Premier Makhura vs Jack Bloom in Gauteng

David Makhura rejects these accusations and looks set to take this grievance to court. However, the DA is digging its heels in, and they’ve issued an ultimatum to their ANC counterpart: ‘Make the contract public, or things will escalate’.

“I give notice to Premier Makhura that he has 24 hours to make the NASREC contract public, otherwise the DA will institute a Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) application for this document. Furthermore, the Auditor-General should scrutinize this contract to ensure that it is rational and legal in all respects.”

“The SIU should also investigate whether all sub-contracts were properly awarded rather than given to connected people at rip-off prices. Premier Makhura needs to show that the provincial government is not hiding anything and that all COVID-19 related contracts are investigated for possible corruption, including the NASREC deal.”