By Siphesihle Jele and Siphamandla Masimula
Since the Gauteng Health MEC, Dr Bandile Masuku, took special leave on July 30, a lot of questions have been raised about the accountability systems in the government.
We hear from a leaked ANC Integrity Commission report that it has put the blame solely on Dr Masuku for not overseeing the work done in his department, more so because of the panic over procurement of personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
The Integrity Commission insists that Dr Masuku must take full responsibility for this, and they recommend he be fired by Gauteng Premier David Makhura.
How they come to this conclusion is of great surprise. Their report was submitted to the ANC provincial executive committee and is being processed by the party’s provincial secretary, Jacob Khawe.
This important oversight committee may lack the fundamental understanding of the complexities of governance practices.
What the commission is suggesting in its report is that a member of the executive committee (MEC) ought to have unlawfully infringed on the work of the procurement department and that of the administrative head.
Just a few weeks ago South Africans were up in arms calling for Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille’s head, that is after it was reported she had unlawfully given an instruction to now suspended director-general Sam Vukela. This is the same thing the commission is suggesting Dr Masuku should have done.
In 2012, then national police commissioner Bheki Cele was also found by the Moloi board of inquiry to have placed himself in a conflicted position by flouting his department’s rules, as the board found, and as a result he was fired by then president Jacob Zuma. Surprisingly, today in 2020 the commission’s report depicts that Dr Masuku should have done a similar thing, if not the same – how ironic.
It is hard to believe that the commission battles to differentiate between the powers embedded in the MEC versus the powers embedded in the head of department (HOD).
Perhaps the commission would have wanted an over-reach from Masuku, or in this instance an interference by the MEC on the duties of the HOD and/or a tangle up of these roles.
Again, why would the commission have anticipated and approved such an over-reach from Dr Masuku, especially given the fact that general powers and responsibilities of the MEC are set out to be restricted in Section 125(2) of the Constitution, where it is stated that MECs should exercise their executive authority through developing and implementing provincial policy co-ordinating the relevant functions of their departments.
Simply put, the primary role of the MEC is to set out policy objectives and to ensure that those objectives are implemented, but the MECs’ roles should never seek to interfere with the administrative role of the HOD, which is centred around administrative procurement for the department.
These responsibilities are also clearly stated and set out in Section 25 of the National Health Act.
In essence, Section 25(2) of the act states that the extensive powers and responsibilities of a provincial department rest with the HOD.
This is evident in the long list of responsibilities that are entrenched in this section, i.e. plan, develop, manage and control health services and facilities.
The HOD bears far-reaching responsibilities in the delivery of health-care services, which includes procurement services.
It is expected that the responsibilities of both the provincial health MEC and HOD are fundamentally understood by the commission.
What was also of interest during this Gauteng maladministration of procurement was the eminent resignation of the health chief financial officer, Ms Kabelo Lehloenya, who resigned at the end of May.
The timing of Lehloenya’s resignation was very interesting given the fact that the Health Department was in the midst of mass procurement. It is highly unusual that such a senior executive would resign on the spot during a public health disaster. The timing was of great concern and is suspicious.
Jele is the Ilawu national chairperson. Masimula is the Ilawu secretary general. Ilawu is a labour union and activism grouping.
The Star