By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Gauteng Department of Health is set to appoint an independent investigator to look into allegations of maladministration and corruption at Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville.
The staff, which included nurses and general workers, have been protesting at the hospital from Wednesday against the “disrespectful” conduct of CEO Dr Sello Matjila who they accused of maladministration and corruption.
Workers went on the rampage on Wednesday, emptying the dustbins, spilling and scattering rubbish on the stairs, including inside the CEO’s office.
They accused Matjila of unfairly excluding a large number of workers from getting performance bonuses, saying the criteria used for selecting those qualifying for bonuses was never transparent and had not been explained to them.
“Following the recent labour unrest and subsequent disruption of services at Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital… the Gauteng Department of Health will be appointing an independent investigator to probe all allegations made by various stakeholders at the facility,” acting Head of Department Arnold Malotana said on Sunday.
In the meantime, he said, Matjila will not be reporting to the facility, and Lebohang Mpshe has been appointed to act on his position while the department addressed the grievances.
Malotana said while the department acknowledged the right of employees to protest, he encouraged that this be done within the ambit of the law, and not compromise the provision of essential healthcare services to the vulnerable.
He apologised for the disruptions and inconveniences as a result of the strike, and said they were grateful services at the public facility had been fully restored.
“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,” Malotana said.