Former Department of Health spokesperson Popo Maja appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court today after handing himself over to the police. He faces two charges of corruption after allegedly accepting an R15 000 bribe from Digital Vibes.

ALLEGED BRIBE

It's alleged that Maja, who was head of communications at the National Department of Health. was appointed as a member of the Bid Specification and Bid Evaluation Committee which was tasked to appoint a service provider to help in publicising information on the National Health Insurance and the COVID-19 pandemic. Spokesperson for National Prosecuting Authority, Lumka Mahanjana, said on 1 November 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. On 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 and he received another R5 000, again from Digital Vibes. 

SUSPENSION AND SUBSEQUENT DEMOTION 

Maja (63) alongside two other senior executives were suspended for three months without pay as the department investigated their role in the awarding of the tender. The three were demoted after being found guilty of signing the contract despite irregularities. Maja received a final written warning valid for a period of 12 months, together with a salary level demotion for a period of 12 months. The contract was allegedly awarded to associates of the then health minister Zweli Mkhize. Mkhize was forced to resign after President Cyril Ramaphosa made the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report public into the Digital Vibes scandal after it was found that some of his family members benefitted from the tender.

GRANTED BAIL

State prosecutor, Phumla Dwane-Alpman, did not oppose bail in the matter. However, she asked the court to set an amount of R10 000 bail with conditions that Maja should hand in his private and official passport to the investigating officer and that he should inform the investigating offer when travelling outside Gauteng and should not interfere with state witnesses. His attorney told the court that Maja was already demoted at work in relation to the same matter and could only afford R5 000. He also told the court that Maja has been cooperating with the state since the inception of the matter, therefore he was not a flight risk.  The matter was postponed to 19 July 2023 for disclosure of contents of the docket.