- Kabelo Mantsu Lehloenya is accused of signing off irregular personal protective equipment contracts.
- Lehloenya wants Gauteng Premier David Makhura and other public officials to contribute to any amount she is found liable for.
- Her trial, which was scheduled to start on Monday, could not commence.
The former chief financial officer of the Gauteng Department of Health wants the province's Premier David Makhura and other public officials to contribute to any amount she is found liable for when she approved personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts.
Kabelo Mantsu Lehloenya wants Makhura and the officials to be joined in the civil recovery proceedings before the Special Tribunal, tribunal spokesperson Selby Makgotho said in a statement.
News24 previously reported that Lehloenya was accused of signing off irregular PPE contracts to the tune of R2 billion.
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But her trial, which was scheduled to begin on Monday, could not go ahead after she filed a third party notice, Makgotho said.
The officials cited include the Gauteng Department of Health's chief operating officer, Arnold Malotana; its chief director, Thandiwe Lorraine Pino; and head of department, Mkhululi Lukhele; as well as two PPE suppliers, Ledla Structural Development and Beadica 423 CC.
"In the third party notice, Lehloenya is seeking an order to join these parties to the proceedings as joint wrongdoers," Makgotho said.
"She wants the premier, the provincial government and these public officials to contribute to any amount she is found liable for to the extent of their role and recklessness in the awarding of the PPE contracts to Ledla and Beadica."
Makgotho said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) had instituted civil recovery proceedings before the tribunal against Lehloenya and Lukhele for breach of their employment contracts in awarding the PPE contracts to Ledla and Beadica for the supply of surgical masks in response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In December 2020, the tribunal declared forfeited to the State amounts that were previously preserved in the bank accounts of Ledla and Beadica.
"This order did not fully compensate the Gauteng Department of Health for the loss it incurred from the awarding of these contracts. Hence, the SIU seeks to recover the additional losses from Lehloenya and Lukhele," Makgotho said.