Probe into complaints of corruption by disgruntled staff at Kalafong hospital

THE Gauteng Department of Health has said that it will be appointing an independent investigator to probe allegations made by disgruntled staff at Kalafong Provincial Tertiary hospital in Atteridgeville.

This follows protests by general workers and nurses last week, who complained about the “disrespectful” conduct of CEO Dr Sello Matjila, who they accused of maladministration and corruption. Workers accused Matjila of unfairly excluding a large number of workers from getting performance bonuses, which was at the centre of their grievances.

They claimed that the criteria used for selecting those qualifying for bonuses was never transparent and had not been explained to them.

The department said Matjila would not be reporting to the facility during the investigation.

Dr Lebohang Mpshe has been appointed as the acting CEO while the department addresses the grievances.

Acting head of department, Arnold Malotana, said: “While we acknowledge the right of employees to protest, we encourage them to do so within the ambit of the law and not compromise the provision of essential health care services to the vulnerable persons in our society. The department would like to convey our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to the users of our facility during the strike.

“We are happy that things are back to normal and we are expecting services to run uninterrupted as we have successfully engaged all the concerned stakeholders within the hospital.”

During their protest last week workers emptied dustbins, spilled and scattered rubbish on the stairs, including inside the CEO’s office. They were also angry that Matjila suspended three shop stewards for taking part in the recent public servants’ shutdown in Pretoria in rejection of the government’s 3% wage increase.

They called for the suspended trio to be reinstated with immediate effect.