Hawks, Tembisa Hospital officials remain in custody for R100k bribery allegations

Mapaballo Borotho

A Hawks officer and a Tembisa Hospital official, will remain in custody for the week after allegedly attempting to bribe an investigator with R100 000.
They are set to apply for bail on 02 December 2025.
The case is linked to ongoing corruption investigations at Tembisa Hospital, which has been under scrutiny since the 2021 murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran.

The Hawks and Tembisa Hospital officials, who appeared before the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Monday, are set to remain in custody for the entire week pending further investigations.

The duo was arrested on Sunday following a tip-off from another Hawks official about bribery allegations. They allegedly attempted to bribe an investigating officer in the Tembisa Hospital looting saga with an amount of R100,000.

The officer arrested the duo immediately after the transaction of funds was completed.

The National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana, says the matter has been postponed to Tuesday, 02 December 2025, for a bail application.

“Zacharia Chisele (53) and a Hawks official, Sergeant Papi Tsie (41), appeared briefly at the Pretoria Magistrates Court, where they are each facing a charge of corruption. It is alleged that on 23 November 2025, the two met with the Hawks investigating officer involved in an ongoing investigation of corruption at the Tembisa Hospital. During the meeting, it is alleged that the two gave the Hawks official a gratification of R100 000 for Chisele to avoid prosecution in an ongoing investigation,” said Mahanjana.

Tembisa Hospital has been in the spotlight since the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran in 2021. At the time of her death, Deokaran was the acting chief financial officer at the Gauteng Department of Health.

Her death has been linked to a corrupt COVID-19 PPE procurement scandal worth millions within the Gauteng Department of Health.