The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently expand the probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into the Tembisa Hospital corruption scandal, following revelations that the President’s nephew, Hangwani Morgan Maumela, is seeking another lucrative state tender.

Maumela, who has already been linked to the R2.3 billion looting network at Tembisa Hospital through the SIU’s interim findings, is reportedly behind a R1 billion food supply tender bid in the North West. The DA says Maumela’s company, Aloo Construction and Supply, submitted the bid using a fraudulent Black Economic Empowerment certificate.

Although the tender was initially awarded to another bidder, Aloo obtained an interim interdict from the Mahikeng High Court to block the award.

The DA warned that the scandal highlights the urgent need to blacklist companies and individuals implicated in corruption. “It is scandalous that someone tied to one of the country’s largest hospital looting syndicates can still try to win massive public contracts,” said DA health spokesperson Michele Clarke. “Blacklisting would have prevented this audacity,” she said.

The party has stressed the need for Ramaphosa to act decisively, particularly given Maumela’s family connection to him. Maumela is related to the President through Ramaphosa’s former wife, Hope Mudau, Maumela’s aunt. Clarke said there could be: “no question of family bias” in deciding whether to expand the probe.

“The SIU investigation must now extend to Maumela, his syndicate, and all other corrupt actors identified by the SIU. South Africans cannot continue to watch public funds being siphoned off while the government does nothing,” Clarke added.

The DA maintains that only by expanding the investigation and enforcing blacklisting measures can public trust be safeguarded and accountability ensured.