DA to request meeting with Minister Motsoaledi on NHLS staff exodus 

20 April 2015

The DA will today request a meeting with the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, on the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) following revelations that staff are leaving en masse due to financial problems (see TimesLive report). 

Reports today revealed that 1000 staff members, most of them highly experienced, have left over the past year, citing low staff morale exacerbated by the financial chaos at the NHLS.

The bulk of the R4.5 billion owed to the NHLS by provinces is attributed to the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provincial health departments.

The DA will appeal to Minister Motsoaledi to probe the mass staff exodus at the NHLS and institute measures to arrest these departures at this critical healthcare institution. 

The NHLS is tasked with ensuring the provision of laboratory services to all health facilities in the public sector. 

The staggering amount of R4.5 billion which is owed to the NHLS could threaten the organisation’s entire functioning, compromising its ability to provide diagnostic services with real life-and-death consequences.

The DA has further requested National Treasury to present before the Portfolio Committee on Health a recovery plan to recoup debt owed by the respective provinces before the close of the 2014/15 financial year. 

The DA will work towards ensuring that measures are put in place to protect the functioning of this critical institution. Minister Motsoaledi would do well to intervene and push for provincial health departments to pay their bills. 

Statement issued by Dr Wilmot James MP, DA Shadow Minister of Health, April 20 2015