Health MEC accused of approving questionable employee claims

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane, breached the separation of powers doctrine meant to curtail the abuse of power in government by approving relocation allowance payments to several department employees, some of whom were already dead when the payments were made.

This is according to a report, compiled by lawyers contracted by the department to give a legal opinion on the department’s decision to pay about 90 employees’ costs related to the workers’ relocation from Ulundi to Pietermaritzburg almost two decades ago.

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The employees’ relocation followed the KZN cabinet’s 2004 decision for the provincial government head office to be relocated to Pietermaritzburg.

Simelane’s intervention

In August 2019, then KZN Health Department acting head, Dr Musa Gumede, declined the request for the employees to be paid an average of R70 000 each, but his decision was overturned after the employees had approached Simelane.

Following Simelane’s intervention, the current department head, Dr Sandile Tshabalala, authorised payments to 21 employees.

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While Simelane also signed off the payment, Tshabalala told the lawyers that the MEC’s signature did not amount to an approval of the payment.

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However, the lawyers, advocate Avril E Potgieter SC, advocate Eric Nkosi and attorney Nokwazi Miya, differed with Tshabalala’s interpretation.

We have consulted with the HoD and amongst our discussions was the necessity of the MEC to approve the payment. He advised that he approved payment and not the MEC; however, the documentation can be interpreted differently. The MEC actually made the decision and she is precluded from doing so in terms of the relevant legislation.

The lawyers, who advised that the employees who were paid the R70 000 lump sums did not have a legitimate claim against the department particularly given that there were no supporting documents to validate the claims, raised concerns that some of the payments could be fraudulent.

It appears that on the said list of 21 there were also payments effected to five employees that were not even employees of the department at the time of the relocation but received the full amount; three employees that were deceased and one employee that was retired.

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Second batch of relocation claims declined

After the payments to the 21 employees were concluded, the lawyers found a second list of 69 employees was submitted to Tshabalala for approval.

However, Tshabalala declined to approve the second batch of the relocation claims.

In declining to approve the second list of payments, Tshabalala among other things cited the fact that some of the people on the list did not even have Persal numbers.

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There was evidence, the lawyers said in their report, that certain individuals within the department were pushing for the payments to made.

Our instructions are that there is tremendous pressure being exerted upon the HoD from various quarters to approve these payments. Some of the potential beneficiaries, management staff of the department, are amongst those who are putting pressure on the HoD to approve these payments.

The department declined to comment on the matter.

“The matter is sub judice,” department spokesperson, Mdu Ncalana, said.

However, KZN Legislature health portfolio committee chairperson, Nomakiki Majola, said the committee was aware of the matter.

“We have requested for specific information from the department. As the portfolio committee, we are hoping to get answers soon,” Majola said.