The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) said on Friday it had obtained an interim court order freezing the bank accounts of 40 companies involved in suspect tenders to supply personal protective equipment to the Gauteng Department of Health during the Covid-19 pandemic, including Royal Bhaca.

The order handed down late on Thursday by the Special Tribunal also prevents the payment of any retirement fund benefits to the former chief financial officer of the department, Kabelo Lehloenya.

"This matter is based on the findings of investigations conducted by the SIU in terms of Proclamation 23 of 2020, which mandates the SIU to investigate several allegations of maladministration, malpractices and corruption in relation to the tenders for the supply and delivery of various Covid-19 personal protection equipment (PPE) awarded by the Gauteng Department of Health," the SIU said in a statement.

The court order suspended a contract awarded to Ledla Structural Development by the Gauteng Department of Health on April 6 and prohibits the other respondents from giving effect to the deal.

The return date, when the court will decide whether to make the order permanent, is October 6.

In the interim, it bars the Government Employees Pension Fund and Government Pensions Administration Agency from disbursing any money which represents pension and retirement benefits due to the Gauteng Department of Health’s CFO, who has since resigned.

Lehloenya resigned under a cloud after allegations emerged of contracts for Covid-19 material flowing to politically connected individuals in Gauteng, among them the husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson Khusela Diko.

Thadisizwe Diko's Royal Bhaca secured a tender for R139-million and later described it as an error of judgement once the deal found its way into media reports.

Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku is reported to have told investigators from the SIU that the Dikos, whom he counts as family friends, failed to inform him of the contract as it was negotiated with Lehloenya.