Call to reinstate all suspended Mpumalanga hospital bosses

Trade union Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) has urged the Mpumalanga department of health to speed up the process of reinstating hospital managers who were “illegally” suspended.

According to the report released by the head of department (HOD) on 21 December last year, the suspended managers were supposed to return to work on 31 January because proper procedures were not followed.

Suspended hospital managers supposed to return to work

The report said the matter was investigated and found that the employees’ dismissals were not properly conducted.

It is alleged that most of the eight managers were pushed out on allegations of poor performance levelled against them by some of the labour federations which pressured the department to suspend them.

Around July, the managers who were suspended last year were reportedly receiving salaries while doing nothing at home.

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Previously, the department told Saturday Citizen that by the end of August, all the employees would be back at work.

Yesterday, some managers who preferred not to be named, fearing reprisal, confirmed they were still on suspension.

“Yes, indeed, some of us are still on suspension, while others were reinstated,” one said.

Some managers not reinstated

PSA provincial manager Flip van der Walt has also confirmed that some managers were not reinstated.

“We are very concerned about the health department. The problem is that the collective agreement stipulates that when an employee is suspended, they should appear before a disciplinary tribunal within 60 days. Only the chair for the tribunal may extend the suspension beyond the 60 days.

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“The CEO and other managers were suspended and no actions were taken by the employer, making the suspensions illegal. There are cases where some were suspended and no clear indication of the reason for suspension was communicated. The CEO of Rob Ferreira Hospital and another senior manager was suspended without a valid reason. We have taken the matter to arbitration and it was sorted.”

He said at Embhuleni Hospital in Elukwatini, the corporate manager and food aid manager were still on suspension, while an investigation by the employer recommended they should return to work.

‘They should return to work’

He said when he asked why they were still not at work, the management cited that members of some trade unions do not want them at the hospital and the employer cannot guarantee their safety while at work.

Saturday Citizen has been reliably informed the Bethal Hospital CEO is still suspended.