SIU wants Life Esidimeni NGOs to pay back the money

THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is taking on the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which scored big from the massacre of mental healthcare patients in Gauteng during their transfer from Life Esidimeni facilities.

Details of the investigations emerged at the Special Tribunal on Friday and SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago also confirmed to Independent Media that the unit was not only focusing on Santa Kamogelo, which is based in Atteridgeville in Tshwane.

The Special Tribunal’s Judge Lebogang Modiba upheld an exception by Santa Kamogelo to the SIU’s particulars of claim against the facility and its representatives, Busi Carrina Morale and GTZ Kambane.

In its papers filed at the tribunal it is claiming about R230 000 from the NGO.

The Gauteng Department of Health entered into an agreement with Santa Kamogelo in August 2016 to provide both residential and non-residential mental healthcare services to users with severe psychiatric and/or profound intellectual disabilities.

According to the SIU, the agreement curbed the number of residential mental healthcare users that Santa Kamogelo would admit to 186 users, and the department would subsidise its costs at a rate of R3413 per mental healthcare patient each month.

The deal also stated that the subsidy would be reduced on a pro rata basis for any number of days in a month in which a user did not utilise Santa Kamogelo’s services.

However, Santa Kamogelo, according to the SIU, submitted a claim to the health department of almost R4.8 million, which represented the total costs for services rendered in terms of the agreement.

The corruption-busting unit has told the Special Tribunal that Santa Kamogelo only admitted 185 mental healthcare patients in May 2016, and only took care of them for 20 days.

In terms of the agreement, Santa Kamogelo was only entitled to claim on a pro rata basis in the month of May 2016 and, therefore, were entitled to claim an amount of R112 298.70 for services rendered to 51 mental health users and another R195 467.10 for 133 mental health users.

The department transferred R477 037 to Santa Kamogelo’s bank account and thus overpaid Santa Kamogelo

by an amount of R169271.19.

According to the SIU, Santa Kamogelo was unduly enriched and the department had suffered a loss.

The SIU said that between May 2016 and March 2017, Santa Kamogelo submitted claims to the value of over R5.1m, resulting in the department overpaying it by more than R59000 and that the NGO had been unjustifiably enriched.

Santa Kamogelo fought back at the SIU’s claims, and wanted its claim at the tribunal dismissed.

Judge Modiba set aside the SIU’s particulars of claim and ordered the unit within 15 days from Friday to deliver their amended set of documents. Santa Kamogelo will have to deliver their plea and/or counter claim or further exception within 10 days of expiry of 15 days.