A complaint lodged with the South African Human Rights Commission has prompted action from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, which has now launched an investigation into conditions at Harry Gwala Hospital (also known as Edendale), reports The Witness.
Allegations of staff intimidation, chronic shortages and risks to patient safety will be probed, said the department, adding that it is not taking the accusations of governance failures and deteriorating conditions lightly.
Other complaints triggering intervention from the Premier’s Office include reports that staff are being pressured to bypass financial controls. Workers say they are being intimidated, encouraged to ignore proper procedures and forced to keep the hospital running amid worsening shortages and service failures.
Employees in finance and supply chain management (SCM) allege they are being asked to bypass proper procedures and act in ways that may contravene the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
“We are being intimidated to sign off on processes that are not compliant,” said one employee. “We are refusing because we will not break the law.”
Workers also described shortages of critical resources, including medical gas and basic office equipment needed for day-to-day operations. “At times we don’t even have the basic tools to function,” one said. “How do you run a hospital without critical resources?”
Staff representative Nonjabulo Mdlangathi said the situation had become so severe that workers were volunteering their time over weekends to keep services running, but that this was no longer sustainable.
Last weekend, the hospital reportedly experienced a water outage, which staff said further placed patients at risk.
They alleged that the problems were linked to failures in leadership and accountability at the hospital, saying that some senior officials implicated in misconduct were being transferred to other facilities instead of facing disciplinary action.
Provincial Health spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said the department was aware of the allegations raised against the finance section and the manager at the hospital, and that an independent investigating officer had been appointed “to probe the concerns raised”.
“We will await the final report once the investigation is concluded. We are not taking these allegations lightly and have asked the investigator to expedite this matter and prioritise it so that we can reach a conclusion as soon as possible.”
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