Charlotte Maxeke hospital rocked by allegations of corruption
Nomathemba Mokgethi’s said six of the cases involved procurement irregularities. Photo: Sharon Seretlo, Gallo Images
Two cases of forged medical certificates, selling of jobs and falsification of records are some of the 25 corruption-related disciplinary cases that took place at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital in the past five years.
This is according to Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi’s reply to the legislature. She said six of the cases involved procurement irregularities.
“In the cases of forged medical certificates, one employee was dismissed and the other one resigned while facing a disciplinary hearing. On the selling of jobs, the employee resigned before the disciplinary hearing and the case was closed.”
Mokgethi said a bribery case that happened in December last year was ongoing, while the employee involved in the falsification of records had been given a final written warning.
Mokgethi said:This year the management became aware of the fraudulent identity document case which happened in January 2012 and the employee absconded.
She said there were still four cases that were not yet concluded: two cases of procurement irregularities, one of dishonesty and one of bribery.
“Two cases are for 2021 and they are still within time frames, whereas the other two cases are from 2020 and were put on hold subject to the Covid-19 status in the country. To conclude the cases timeously, disciplinary hearings are currently in progress,” Mokgethi said.
DA shadow Gauteng Health MEC Jack Bloom said it was concerning that disciplinary action had not been concluded in two cases involving procurement irregularities that dated back to February and March 2020.
“How can it be that a disciplinary hearing on a critical corruption matter drags on for two years? In the four other cases of procurement irregularities, one was closed for lack of evidence, one employee absconded, one died and one resigned before the hearing,” Bloom said.
He suspected that these cases were the tip of the iceberg.
He said:Lackadaisical action against all forms of corruption hurts patients the most, as they suffer when money is misappropriated that should be used to provide better treatment.
Charlotte Maxeke hospital has been in the spotlight since April last year when a section of it was gutted by fire.
–City Press
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