Niël Terblanché
THE Ministry of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs has wasted millions of dollars on substandard hand sanitiser in a transaction that is currently the subject of a court case instituted by the supplier.
Instead of commenting on the fact the ministry paid a total of N$2.25 million dollars for 450 containers of hand sanitiser that does not meet the standards set out by the World Health Organisation or the Ministry of Health and Social Service, the Executive Director of the defence ministry, Trephine Kamati, opted to deny that the company in question, Phoenix Capital Investment CC belongs to a child of an employee of the ministry.
To make matters worse, the sanitiser acquired by the defence ministry only has an ethanol content of about 37% while regulations state that the alcohol content should be between 75% and 85% to be effective,
The 450 containers were bought at a unit price of N$5 000 while another supplier quoted the defence ministry a price of N$1 000 per 25l container of sanitiser that meets the requirements in terms of ethanol content.
This constitutes an overpayment of N$800 000 for the hand sanitiser.
Pictured: A tax invoice for goods supplied, a purchase order from the defence ministry and the results of a laboratory test that was performed on the substandard hand sanitiser that was supplied by Phoenix Capital Investment CC. 
Pictured: A tax invoice for goods supplied, a purchase order from the defence ministry and the results of a laboratory test that was performed on the substandard hand sanitiser that was supplied by Phoenix Capital Investment CC.
The same company quoted the defence ministry a unit price of N$300 per 25l container of disinfectant gel while the ministry paid a unit price of N$4 500. In total the defence ministry spent N$436 500 instead of N$29 100 which constitutes an overpayment of N$407400.
The defence ministry also bought a thousand N95 reusable facemasks at a unit price of N$67.50.or a total of N$67 500.
Kamati claimed that the allegations of privilege levelled against the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs and its leadership are exaggerated.
