The Gauteng Health Department has faced heavy criticism for paying R3.9m to seven Cuban doctors who had already left the country, continuing to receive salaries for an entire year due to an administrative error.

Despite attempts to recover the funds, R2.7m remains outstanding. The DA has condemned the department for gross mismanagement and a lack of accountability.

According to DA’s Jack Bloom, this costly mistake occurred when 28 Cuban doctors were hired on a one-year contract to assist with the Covid-19 pandemic, but the contracts for seven of them were irregularly extended for another year.

“Instead of their contracts ending on May 14, 2021, they continued to receive salaries without working until May 2022.”

Bloom said the MEC responded to his questions in the Gauteng Legislature as follows:

“The officials who extended the contracts claimed they were unaware that the Cuban Healthcare Workers were no longer in the country.”

Bloom noted that the Auditor-General flagged this as a ‘Material Irregularity’.

“An investigation has resulted in the recovery of R1.2m, and disciplinary charges have been laid against the responsible officials. The Cuban government has also been contacted to recover the remaining funds.”

Bloom said it is astonishing that seven foreign doctors were paid for an entire year while they were not even in the country.

“It is also unacceptable that R2.7m is still outstanding more than two years after this wasteful expenditure, and the officials involved have yet to face disciplinary action. It’s another example of deep incompetence and possible corruption within this department.”

This comes shortly after the revelation that the Gauteng Health Department had wasted over R13m on nine suspended staff members, with some cases dragging on for years due to prolonged investigations and delays in hearings.