South African investigators have called for a former health minister to be punished and a senior official to face criminal charges over a $10 million Covid-19 fund scandal, AFP reports.

The damning report from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) said former health minister Zweli Mkhize oversaw contracts through Digital Vibes, a front company run by his former spokeswoman and personal assistant.

The SIU, an independent law enforcement agency with similar powers to the FBI, said the health ministry's former director-general Anton Pillay should be criminally charged with financial misconduct.