The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga said the Department of Health in the province should be placed under administration.
This happened during a media briefing a day after the premier of the province, Ms Refilwe Mtsweni moved MEC Gillion Mashego from the department to be replaced by MEC Ms Sasekani Manzini.
Ms Jane Sithole, the leader of the DA in the provincial legislature, said her party was very happy about the reshuffle, although they wondered if it was not too late, as their previous attempts for the former premier to remove Mashego never happened .
“The move is however a little bit too late because the crises in the health department is of a nature where we wonder if honourable Manzini is not set up to fail, because without the money she will not be able to move.
“The reason we called this briefing is because of the financial crises, accruals in the Department of Health, which led them to use their budget to pay debts from previous years and become unable to buy medicine for hospitals and clinics,” she said.
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“We believe he should have just been moved to be an ordinary member of the house or not touch anything to do with money,” she added.
Sithole said with the state that the department of health is in right now, it should be placed under administration.
“There is no way that Manzini will run that department without money, as it is now. The health department does not have the funds needed to effectively manage the province’s clinics and hospitals. This has had an adverse effect on emergency medical services, the provincial HIV treatment plans, the National Health Insurance pilot as well as access to basic healthcare,” she added.
Sithole told Mpumalanga News that her office was to write to the provincial MEC of finance, economic development and tourism, Mr Eric Sikhumbuzo Kholwane, today about the DA’s proposal. She also said the party will send a letter to the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsaledi.
