Gauteng Health Department is soft on criminals  

24 April 2018

The Gauteng Health Department has instituted 179 disciplinary cases for fraudulent and criminal activities in the past five years, but has only laid criminal charges against 3 of the employees concerned.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa in a written reply to questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

In the case of an employee at the Medical Supplies Depot (MSD), he was found to be involved in fraudulent and criminal activities in 2015, but no criminal case was reported to the police who “advised to secure the recovered stock and only report if there was any loss suffered.”

This employee was initially dismissed, but this decision was reversed on appeal and he is still working at the MSD after three months suspension without pay.

In the three cases where criminal cases were laid against employees, one was dismissed in 2015, and in two cases last year “the criminal case is still in the process of investigation and the disciplinary case is in the hearings stage, the staff members are still in service at the institution.”

Of the 179 disciplinary cases, 6 people were found not guilty and there were no grounds to charge for another 6 cases.

Six employees resigned during the disciplinary process, 45 were dismissed and the rest got warnings, including periods of suspension without pay in 26 cases.

I am concerned that criminal charges have been laid against hardly any employees implicated in criminal activities, some of whom still work for the department.

The department is soft on criminals despite the huge damage caused by corruption scandals that have negatively affected patient care at hospitals and clinics.

Criminal charges should always be laid to serve as a strong deterrent to further corrupt activities.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 24 April 2018