Health officials and healthcare workers came in for sharp rebuke this week for shoddy work; in Gauteng officials were threatened with dismissal if they did not attend to long-delayed payments to suppliers, and in Limpopo nurses came in for a tongue lashing for refusing to work until they had had their tea.
Gauteng Health MEC Faith Mazibuko made it clear should would not tolerate any more delays in processing payments, an issue which has led to much frustration for state suppliers, and led to financial ruin for some. Some of the outstanding invoices at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital date back to 2020, and the MEC was seen writing down the names of staff accused by suppliers of not responding to calls and emails, reports News24.
“We wouldn’t be here if you had paid suppliers,” she told them.
A meeting with suppliers, held in the hospital CEO’s boardroom, was attended by dozens of suppliers, with extra chairs having to be added to accommodate them.
Mazibuko said service providers had complained about delayed payments, lost documents, and unanswered phone calls, with several of them saying they had been forced to retrench employees.
Portia Tsosane from Babcock Healthcare, which supplies equipment for the hospital’s theatre wards, said her company had laid off workers because of delayed payments.
She said she had been going to the facility weekly, without any resolution.
Medical implant supplier Stryker said their oldest invoice was from 2020 and that their account was now officially on hold due to non-payment.
Anita Govender from Johnson & Johnson warned that the payment crisis was affecting South Africa’s reputation with international investors.
“We had to restructure, in many instances, which is impacting the economy,” she said, adding that international boards were questioning whether South Africa remained a lucrative investment destination for healthcare.
One of the main complaints from suppliers was lost documents, which seemed to be a common problem from all attendees.
“If anyone doesn’t want to work, they must go,” Mazibuko told hospital officials.
The facility’s financial director, Mmamosidi Bodibe, protested that recent delays were due to a new policy implemented in October 2025.
“We had to redo the paperwork so that we comply with the policy,” Bodibe added, while acknowledging that a “substantial amount of money is owed”, but Mazibuko rejected this explanation.
“The bottom line is that you were not paying people. All of these new policies are new when you’ve got people you owe from way back,” she said.
She linked the supplier payment crisis to Charlotte Maxeke’s ongoing struggles to repair fire damage from 2021.
“If they were paying the DBSA (Development Bank of Southern Africa) on time, that unit would’ve been done now,” she said.
“We have lost almost 200 beds because that unit is incomplete.”
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana visited the hospital last week, establishing a weekly task team to monitor its reconstruction – this after the Public Protector released a report finding “gross maladministration” in the handling of the repairs.
Mazibuko acknowledged that the National Treasury sometimes sets spending limits for institutions, forcing them to prioritise payments.
“Sometimes it’s a matter of cash flow from the National Treasury, but this means you must start prioritising – what am I paying? what am I not paying? – but it’s not an excuse for someone not to have been paid for so many years.”
She said the hospital was working on creating a database of all suppliers “so that each and every unit knows how much they have and they don’t overspend”.
SA Medical Technology Industry Association (Samed) Board member Monica Lucas said the association was encouraged by Mazibuko’s approach but would monitor progress closely.
She warned that Samed would escalate the matter to the Premier, relevant Ministers, and the Presidency if there were no improvement.
Mazibuko said they would start paying companies that were owed “small” amounts from now, and from mid-June, everyone else should start receiving payments.
She gave her cellphone numbers to the suppliers and asked them to contact her if they saw no progress from the hospital.
A similar facility-level meeting was held at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Wednesday morning.
In Limpopo, it was nurses who came in for sharp rebuke, with Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba responding to complaints that staff at Mahwelereng Clinic would not treat patients until 9am so that they can drink their tea first, despite getting to work at 7am, reports TimesLIVE.
Ramathuba conducted a site visit to the Waterberg District clinic where she held a meeting with staff to pinpoint the exact cause of severe patient delays. In a video posted to her official Facebook page, the Premier can be seen walking through the facility and asking them about their working hours.
One admin employee said the primary issue stemmed from nurses prioritising their morning tea over patient care. She said that while administrative staff issued patient files on time, the bottleneck lay with the nurses.
The Premier immediately demanded to speak to one of the nurses on duty. “You can lie to others, but not to me,” she said. “If you don’t assist patients, they will call me and complain. But if you arrive here, see these patients first and then sit down to enjoy your lunch boxes, they won’t complain. By 12pm, you could be completely done.
“This practice of seeing the first patients at 9am will not work. It must stop now.”
Ramathuba told the nurses they had to change their behaviour. “You know how many nurses are currently unemployed, right? You know how much we struggle to secure funding to hire nurses? You are going to change and do exactly what you were taught at nursing college.”
She warned that she would not defend them when officials formally investigated the matter.
The issue was not a lack of clinical skill, but rather public servants refusing to do their jobs, she emphasised, noting that patients no longer complained about medication shortages, but rather about long waiting times.
“It’s not that you don’t have the skills – you were taught the right things. The problem is the attitude of wanting to sit and drink tea.
“Aren’t we tired of being taught – by lawyers – how to treat patients? Let’s do our work. We don’t need an outsider to advocate for our patients. We are the ones who have taken an oath. We understand what it means when a patient sits here for the whole day.”
She issued a stern warning on disciplinary actions: “If you think people will defend you, let me tell you that it doesn’t work that way. When you are charged, you face it alone. When you get dismissed, you get dismissed alone.
“Love your people more than anything else, and you won’t go wrong.”
Ramathuba criticised them for taking their jobs for granted. “If I advertise your job today, I will receive thousands of applications. You must appreciate how lucky you are to be working – now show that appreciation by taking care of these patients. They don’t have a choice. If they did, they would have gone to a private hospital.”
The Premier said she would return unannounced to check on the clinic’s progress. “Next time I come, it won’t be nice. If I find this facility in the same condition, you will be in serious trouble.”
TimesLIVE – Premier furious as nurses prioritise tea-time over patient care
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Gauteng Health labelled a ‘mafia’ after hospital repair scandal exposed
Charlotte Maxeke repairs on track at 90%, but still two-year waiting lists
Charlotte Maxeke debacle places ‘enormous load’ on Helen Joseph Hospital
No money for fire compliance at Charlotte Maxeke – Gauteng Health