The Special Investigating Unit wants Robert Gumede, one of South Africa’s most prominent businessmen, to pay back R390 million over a pandemic-era PPE deal that the SIU says was grossly inflated.
This case matters because Covid-19 procurement fraud diverted billions from emergency public services during South Africa’s worst health crisis. The SIU’s case against Gumede is among the largest still awaiting a court hearing.
What the SIU alleges
In late March 2020, five days after President Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster, Gumede wrote to a National Treasury official offering to supply PPE through a company then called Mainstreet 699, later renamed Red Roses Africa.
The SAPS awarded Red Roses a R514 million contract for 90,000 25-litre containers of hand sanitiser and two million face masks.
The SIU says Red Roses paid R162 million to local suppliers, including Dis-Chem, for the goods. It then charged the SAPS the full contract price. The SIU calls the difference “unlawful super-profits.”
The SIU also alleges Gumede told SAPS the PPE would arrive from China on a “specially chartered Airbus.” Forensic investigator Jackey Mathabathe says in his December 2025 affidavit that no such aircraft existed.
Red Roses Africa is directed by Gumede’s nephew, Blessing Qwabe. Gumede is the third respondent in the SIU’s case.
What Gumede says
Mario Pillay, a Guma Group executive, filed an answering affidavit in October 2025 denying wrongdoing. He called the SIU’s characterisation “scurrilous.”
Gumede and Qwabe argue that the source of the PPE and how it was transported are irrelevant to the contract terms.
Where it stands
The case is before the Special Tribunal, which has not yet heard it. A separate Competition Tribunal hearing on excessive pricing charges is scheduled for October 2026.
No court has made findings against Gumede. The allegations remain allegations.