DA questions Gauteng health over dormant medico-legal cases

Earlier this week, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng demanded answers from the provincial Department of Health after 803 medico-legal cases were declared “dormant or archived”, which led to a reported reduction of R7.1 billion in liabilities.

According to the DA Gauteng spokesperson for Health, Madeleine Hicklin, the department head, Lesiba Malotana, disclosed this recently at a stakeholder meeting with the health portfolio committee.

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Cases declared dormant

According to Malotana, as of December 2024, the department managed 1 480 medico-legal claims amounting to R14.7 billion.

“However, by applying Rule 37B (which pertains to cases that have been ‘dormant’ for 24 months) and Chapter 8 (which addresses cases that have been ‘dormant’ for 36 months). The Gauteng Department of Health has reported savings of R7.1 million on medico-legal claims to date,” Hicklin said.

The Citizen requested comment from the department on Monday. A response on Thursday afternoon said, “The legal team is currently dealing with a high volume of urgent matters, and they are unable to respond this week.”

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DA questions process

Hicklin said most of the cases reportedly involved cerebral palsy claims, which often require lifelong medical care and financial support for affected patients and their families.

“In the meeting, I raised concerns with the HOD about how certain cases could suddenly be labelled as ‘dormant’ or ‘archived’,” Hicklin said.

“The DA is aware of the aggressive tactics used to ‘mediate’ the amounts claimed in medical malpractice suits against government departments.”

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Call for full disclosure

She further criticised the department’s lack of transparency regarding how cases were selected for dormancy and whether mediation played a role in the decline.

Hicklin said she has formally requested a comprehensive list of all dormant and archived cases for scrutiny, stressing that accountability was essential in handling medico-legal claims.

“A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would implement a professional legal strategy to quickly process legitimate claims, prevent fraudulent claims, and address hospital conditions that lead to costly medical mistakes,” she added.

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