MPs demand the paper trail for R183m in NHI publicity spending

Parliament's health committee has told the National Department of Health to hand over the full paper trail for its National Health Insurance (NHI) communication contracts. It wants bid documents, signed service-level agreements, quotations, purchase orders, invoices, proof of delivery and the names of the officials who authorised each step.

The demand followed a briefing on 9 October by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and officials on the advertising and events contracts first reported by News24. The minister and Deputy Minister Joe Phaahla have referred the allegations to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) and the Public Protector.

What the department says it spent

Deputy director-general for NHI Nicholas Crisp told MPs the department made 137 payments totalling more than R183m to two service providers, KMTV Media and Dots Design Agency, The Citizen reported. Both were appointed on 31 May 2024.

News24's reports alleged that money meant for HIV, TB and GP contracting was moved into NHI marketing. The department rejects that. Crisp said NHI communication is paid from the health systems component of the NHI Indirect Grant under approved business plans, with R30m set aside in 2025/26 and R39m in 2026/27.

Crisp said the department was satisfied the work was value for money. He said benchmarking showed studio interviews could cost up to R900,000 a recording, while the department paid between R35,000 and R110,000. The R1,620 figure that critics cited was, he said, KMTV's hourly rate for consulting, not the value of the contract.

Motsoaledi said NHI money had been used to help other programmes communicate, including the recent launch of the HIV prevention injection lenacapavir, because the department has no dedicated communication budget. "We are not hiding anything. We are able to account for each and every cent," he said, according to EWN.

Questions the committee wants answered

Committee chairperson Faith Muthambi said funds appropriated for public health services must remain within the public health system. She said the minister should have started an internal preliminary investigation while the external probes ran.

MPs also asked why the department did not use the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), which handles media buying for government. Motsoaledi said the department had been advised that GCIS lacked capacity. The committee wants that in writing and has resolved to invite Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the Minister in the Presidency, to explain GCIS's capacity.

Media questions sent to the department on 7 October cite CIPC company records showing that Dots entered business rescue in April 2023 and faced a final liquidation order on 22 August 2024, The Citizen reported. The department said a purchase order for Dots was refused in April 2026 because the company was no longer tax compliant, and it has passed the new questions to the SIU and AGSA.

Department spokesperson Foster Mohale was a member of the first tender committee and vice-chairperson of the second, and a ministerial statement on 30 September said the minister and deputy minister have known KMTV owner Khathu Mamaila for 32 years. Crisp told MPs the minister has never met Mosa Likobo of Dots. The department denies any fraud. The MK Party has called for Motsoaledi to resign.

A wider look at the department's books

In a separate statement on 11 October, the committee reported on its review of the department's 2025/26 annual report. The department met 33 of its 47 performance targets (70.2%) while spending almost its entire budget, and MPs asked how both could be true.

According to the committee, R187m in irregular expenditure remains unresolved, R179m of it under investigation, and a separate R106m connectivity contract has been referred to National Treasury and the Hawks. The Auditor-General found 32 material irregularities across the health sector. "There has been no movement on your audit outcome for over a period of 10 years, Minister," Muthambi said.

The department's vacancy rate is 15.2%. The NHI branch has the highest, at 19.6%, with 67 of 102 approved posts filled.

MPs also raised medicine stock-outs, long specialist waiting times and failing infrastructure. Motsoaledi told them there is enough antiretroviral stock and that ARV shortages are not delaying six-month dispensing.

The committee says it will keep monitoring the communication contracts while the SIU and AGSA investigations continue. No deadline for the department's documents was announced.

The missing paperwork is about communication contracts, not about whether a clinic will see you tomorrow. If a clinic has turned you away over antiretroviral stock, the minister's account to Parliament is that national supply is in place and that shortages are not holding up six-month dispensing. A clinic that says otherwise is a question for that facility and the province. Do not stop treatment on your own while that is checked.