Suspension of Tembisa Hospital CEO 'has left workers frustrated'
The Institutional Labour Caucus (ILC) at Tembisa Hospital says staff are frustrated at the descision to place CEO Dr Ashley Mthunzi on precautionary suspension.
The Gauteng provincial government placed Mthunzi on precautionary suspension amid allegations of a possible link to the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran in August 2021.
Deokaran was gunned down in her driveway after exposing fraud and corruption at the Gauteng Department of Health.
Mthunzi was suspended alongside Gauteng Health CFO Lerato Madyo.
The provincial government said the suspension was to ensure that their presence in the office does not impede the investigation.
However, the ILC says Mthunzi’s suspension was implemented on the back of the caucus’s demand to meet Premier David Makhura to discuss the attacks on the CEO and the Hospital.
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Caucus spokesperson Kansas Stevans says they believe the CEO was on track implementing the Health Ombudsman recommendations and improving service.
“The ILC rejects this suspension with the contempt it deserves. We are of a strong view that the premier undermines organised labour and also the rule of law.
"After attempts of requesting his audience to engage on this matter to find an amicable solution, the premier blatantly ignored the ILC and continued with his irregular deed.
"On the rule law, legislatively, a CEO of a hospital is appointed and reports to the office of the HOD, not of the premier. In this case David Makhura took an interest in the matter and undermined the office of the HOD and took the matter to his office,” says Stevans.
