Senior health official corruption case set for trial

Share the Article:

The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has postponed the case against the National Department of Health Senior official to February 13, 2024 for a trial date.

Joseph Themba Popo Maja, 63, is facing two counts of corruption worth R15 000.

According to Lumka Mahanjana, the National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson, in 2019 Maja was appointed as a member of the Bid Specification and Bid Evaluation Committee.

“The committee was tasked to appoint a service provider to provide communication services in relation to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.

“On November 1, 2019, the Bid evaluation committee members set to evaluate bidders for functional and technical evaluation after Digital Vibes was recommended to be contracted the bid amount of over R141 million for a period of 12 months.

“The same day the committee sat, it is alleged that an amount of R10 000 was paid into Maja’s personal bank account, from the Digital Vibes bank account,” she said.

Mahanjana stated that a month later, on December 5, 2019, an amount of R5000 was paid again to his personal account by Digital Vibes.

ALSO READ | ‘Show us the proof’: DA dares Cogta MEC on Emfuleni mysterious generators

She added; “During his court appearance and through his attorney, he asked for a bail condition where he is supposed to report to the investigating officer every time he leaves Gauteng province to be relaxed.

“The application was granted by the court however, all other conditions are still applicable.”