Pretoria - After initially denying it, Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi has now admitted that Tembisa Hospital chief executive Ashley Mthunzi was facing a disciplinary charge of violating the health department’s recruitment policy when he was appointed last year.
Mokgethi made these disclosures in her written reply to questions from DA health spokesperson, Jack Bloom, in the Gauteng provincial legislature.
The reply, dated September 12, was markedly different to the reply to a similar question asked by Bloom in June this year, in which Mokgethi denied that suspended Mthunzi was appointed as the CEO while facing a disciplinary charge that should have disqualified him.
In her latest reply, Mokgethi conceded that Mthunzi was given a final written warning for contravening the recruitment and selection policy. She said the then acting head of department, Dr Sibongile Zungu, had approved recommendations that Mthunzi should be disciplined for the offence he was charged with.
Mokgethi said the Labour Relations Directorate was supposed to implement the recommendation.
According to Mokgethi, the person who allegedly provided her with the false information in June this year was the former acting deputy director-general, Freddy Kgongwana.
Detailing the processes which led to the appointment of Mthunzi, Mokgethi said the vacant CEO post at Tembisa Hospital was advertised in the Sunday Times newspaper on April 11, 2021, with a closing date of April 23, 2021.
Shortlisting was conducted on May 5, interviews were conducted on May 12, and he was subjected to competency assessments on June 3, 2021.
She said Mthunzi was recommended as the most suitable candidate for the post and was subsequently appointed.
Asked why Mthunzi was considered for the post when he was facing a disciplinary hearing while he was CEO at Pholosong Hospital, Mokgethi replied: “The selection committee did not have knowledge or information on Mthunzi’s pending disciplinary hearing while at Pholosong Hospital.”
She also said that information was not on his personal file or register. Mokgethi promised to investigate the matter and take appropriate action. She also vowed to implement the recommendation of Dr Zungu.
Reacting to the latest replies, Bloom said the important issue was that Mthunzi should never have been appointed as the Tembisa Hospital CEO as he was facing a disciplinary charge during his tenure at Pholosong Hospital.
“This is the second time that a hospital CEO has been appointed despite facing a disciplinary charge – a Far East Rand Hospital CEO was dismissed after he was found guilty of fraud at his previous hospital position.
“I suspect there was a deliberate cover-up of the disciplinary charge facing Mthunzi to appoint him as the Tembisa Hospital CEO.
“A surge of payments to suspicious companies took place shortly after he was appointed as acting CEO at Tembisa Hospital in April last year. These payments were flagged by murdered whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, who requested a forensic audit – that was never done.
“We need to know why Mthunzi’s disciplinary charge was not disclosed to the selection committee that appointed him as the permanent CEO in June last year,” Bloom said.
Mokgethi’s promise to take appropriate action against those involved was not good enough, he said.
There needs to be a shake-up of the entire top management of the Gauteng Health Department to eliminate a buddy-buddy network that influences appointments and protects those involved in wrongdoing, he said.
“It’s an extremely serious matter to provide an incorrect reply to the Gauteng legislature. I will be writing to the speaker about this. There must be no cover-up of who pulled the strings to get Mthunzi to head the Tembisa Hospital, followed by R850 million payments to fishy companies that Babita Deokaran said were ‘possibly corrupt’,” Bloom said.
Pretoria News