EX-PS ORDERED E9M DRUGS VIA WHATSAPP; TLC GETS E15M

LOBAMBA – Avapharm (Pty) Ltd Director Dave Melton says he was requested to procure Remdesivir injection through a WhatsApp message by the former Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, Dr Simon Zwane.

Remdesivir is one of the drugs that are suspected to have been donated. Government is said to have paid E9 million for the supposed donated drugs supplied by Avapharm (Pty) Ltd, which is one of the biggest government medical suppliers. The Director of the company, Melton, yesterday told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the E9 million that was paid to him was for 8 000 vials of the injection that he procured. He told the PAC that the injection he delivered was not donated, as presented. Melton said he received the request to procure the injection through a WhatsApp message from the former PS. The director, who is also a former director of Swazipharm Wholesalers (PTY) LTD, revealed the information to the PAC in Parliament, during a preliminary meeting with the committee.

Clarity

The meeting was aimed at providing clarity on some of the audit queries that were raised by the Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, and the findings of the PAC when it conducted a surprise visit at the Central Medical Stores (CMS). The director was asked to provide clarity on why E9 million Remdesivir injections which, according to their findings at CMS in Matsapha, was donated, yet a sum of E9 million was paid to the company. It was further enquired by the PAC why an invoice for the delivered drug was sent at a later date. This drug was ‘procured’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We found out that the Remdesivir injection was received in Mbabane as a donation from COVID-19 treatment sites. Please explain to the committee what happened there,” said the PAC Chairperson, MP Madala Mhlanga. In response to the query, the director told the PAC that as far as he knew, the E9 million that was paid to his company by government was for a drug that was procured. He further revealed startling information on how his company was engaged to procure the ‘wonder’ drug.

Melton told the PAC that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was asked by the former Ministry of Health PS, Dr Zwane, through WhatsApp, to assist procure the drug which was a trial drug at the time for Eswatini. He noted that the demand at the time was too high internationally. Despite the scarcity of the drug at the time, he managed to navigate through his network and eventually secured it through Namibia and it eventually arrived in the country. Melton told the PAC that he had all the correspondence with the former PS, which were WhatsApp messages sent in January 2021, as well as the border gate papers, among others. He also furnished the PAC with the documents.

“I reached out to colleagues out there and managed to find some stock, which was in Nambia, and subsequently from other sources. Through WhatsApp communication, which I have copies of here, Dr Zwane asked that we get it since there were serious restrictions. We supplied the first batch on January 14, 2021, two days after he asked. At first, we were able to deliver 1 388 vials then 2 076. The last batch was on January 21, 2021, and in total there were 8 000 vials,” he said. After they supplied the drug, the director said they were told they could not invoice them until March 3, 2021.

He said he eventually received the payment after 15 months of delivery, which was June 12, 2022. He emphasised to the committee that the Remdesivir injection he referred to was never donated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as alleged. He welcomed the PAC to verify that information with the WHO, to get to the bottom of the matter. “I have delivery notes, invoice documents of the stock being cleared at the border, that I can share with you,” he said as he was sharing the bulky documents. The PAC Chairperson and Mhlangatane Member of Parliament (MP), Mhlanga, asked the director why the drug was still at the CMS. He further asked Melton to confirm if during the delivery, the storeman signed the delivery note and the order number.

Emergency

The director stated that did not happen, because they made a manual delivery as, after all, they were asked to assist through an emergency. He said manual deliveries were done during emergency periods. Phondo MP Bonginkosi Dube told the director that during their visit to the CMS, they saw that the drug was branded ‘donated and not for sale’.  For that reason, the MP said he felt Melton was not honest with his responses. Melton told the PAC that he could not respond on drugs he did not see. He said he was unsure whether the drug that was seen by the PAC at the CMS was the drug he delivered. Furthermore, Melton said he could not respond to why medication was lying idle at the CMS, because he was not in control of that institution. “I have no control of CMS, therefore, I cannot answer why the stock is still there,” he said.

Somntongo MP Sandile Nxumalo said he was shocked by the manner in which the drug was ordered, and questioned whether it went through the normal tender process. He asked if it was proper for the former PS  to use WhatsApp to place orders. “Is that how you used to do things with the former PS. You used to send WhatsApp messages and get things done? We do not deal with WhatsApp messages here, we deal with official documentation,” MP Nxumalo said. Melton said that was not the way they used to do things, but the case of the injection was different, in that it was an emergency situation, as people were dying.

Matsanjeni South MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla asked the director if he was aware that he and the former PS grossly flouted procurement procedures. The MP said what irked him the most was that the Procurement Act is clear on how procurement during an emergency is to be conducted, but they decided to use WhatsApp. “This is totally unacceptable and it was fraud at its worst. You communicated national business on WhatsApp, then you are telling us it was an emergency. You should have made an emergency order, not to communicate through WhatsApp,” he said.

The MPs said everyone who was involved in the fraudulent deal should repay the money that was used to pay for the injection. The chairperson said the country would not be suffering if the Ministry of Health was responsible.

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