Johannesburg – The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) on Tuesday revealed that six employees cited in the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report regarding the shenanigans at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital were suspended last month.
Stung by criticism of inaction on the matter, the GDoH said it “would like to confirm that disciplinary action” was being taken against Tembisa Hospital officials based on the forensic investigation report by the SIU made public in December 2022.
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Earlier this year on 28 June 2023 Democratic Alliance Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom said nine officials at the hospital were still at work even though they were implicated in dodgy contracts – that included the alleged purchase of skinny jeans for half a million rand.
“The lack of action is utterly deplorable. It follows the one-year delay in disciplining the Tembisa Hospital CEO Dr. Ashley Mthunzi who was suspended in August last year but will only face charges of corruption in August this year,” Bloom said at the time.
“This was after media investigations revealed that murdered whistle-blower Babita Deokaran tried to stop R100 million ‘possibly corrupt’ contracts at the hospital, and flagged other transactions worth R850 million.”
This week on Tuesday, the GDoH said all in all nine employees were cited in the report for possible malfeasance.
“Employees who were sighted in the report and those that could have been involved in some of the transactions have been placed on precautionary suspension as part of pursuing the disciplinary process,” said the GDoH.
The department said six employees were suspended on 10 July 2023 to enable disciplinary proceedings to get underway.
An investigator has since been appointed.
“The Deputy Director for Supply Chain has since retired, a Chief Physiotherapist has since resigned, and a sessional Medical Officer has since stopped working at the facility,” the GDoH said.
“The department will further consider its options in relation to those that have already terminated their services.
“The processes pertaining to the disciplinary case involving the suspended GDoH Chief Financial Officer and Tembisa Hospital Chief Executive Officer are underway and handled from the Office of the Premier.”
The GDoH said two officials have since been charged.
The first set of hearing has sat, and the next set will be sitting in October 2023.
The Gauteng Premier’s Office signed a Secondment Agreement with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate the allegations of maladministration, fraud, and corruption related to the Supply Chain Management processes at Tembisa Hospital under the Gauteng Department of Health as reported by the late Deokaran.
Among the recommendations made by the SIU was that “Based on the findings in respect of the irregularities highlighted as per the payment bundles received, the SIU would recommend that disciplinary action be instituted against all officials responsible for the adjudication of the various quotations received”.
