Eastern Cape Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, who faces charges relating to a scandal over alleged misuse of funds meant for former President Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013, has been axed by Premier Oscar Mabuyane. The Mail & Guardian quotes Mabuyane as saying she has been replaced by Co-operative Governance MEC Xolile Nqatha.
Gomba’s firing comes after Mabuyane was instructed by the province's working committee that he had to deal urgently with tainted members in his executive. Before her appointment as Health MEC, Gomba had faced a range of political embarrassments and allegations of corruption.
In December 2017, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released a damning report that exposed how officials in the Buffalo City metro misused money intended for service delivery, including ablution facilities, the refurbishment of schools, water, electricity and sanitation, under the guise of the Mandela funeral. Mkhwebane found R300m had been misappropriated by the Eastern Cape Government. Last week, Gomba and others were released on bail after appearing in court on charges related to the misuse of funds meant for Mandela’s funeral.
The charges stem from when Gomba was a deputy mayor in Buffalo City metro. Gomba has also faced criticism for her Health Department’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, most notably the disastrous R10m “ambulance scooter” project.
The decision to fire Gomba was based on a goal to clean up the image of the Eastern Cape Government, according to Mabuyane in a News24 report. “We want to preside over a clean sixth administration and deal decisively with chronic problems that have actually been paralysing the administration of our province for some time. It was not a good feeling hearing and listening to the media saying the Eastern Cape is the number one corruption centre in this country,” Mabuyane said.
He said the decision will also allow Gomba time and space to focus on the fraud case against her.
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in the Eastern Cape says that it welcomes Mabuyane’s decision to relieve Gomba of her duties. DENOSA said in a statement on the Polity site that it has been following with great concern the allegations of corruption and fraud leveled against the MEC and other mishaps.
On 22 April 2020, DENOSA called for MEC Gomba to step down after setting "inadequate PPE example”. Since then, the MEC has been entangled by many misfortunes. It is pleasing to see that ten months later the Premier has finally heeded the call of firing Gomba.
DENOSA is urging Premier to act swiftly in filling the vacancy of the MEC. There is an urgent need to stabilise the department.
The firing of MEC is following at the footsteps of stepping down of the head of department (HoD), Dr Thobile Mbengashe and since then the position remains vacant. This means that the department does not have HoD and MEC.
Our health system is currently facing the biggest challenge that it never experienced in modern times. The province cannot afford not to have the head of administration and political head. Otherwise, there is a risk of not taking political decisions and non-implementation of administration decisions in our already compromised health system.
[link url="https://mg.co.za/news/2021-02-18-gomba-gone-mabuyane-removes-eastern-cape-health-mec/"]Full Mail & Guardian report (Open access)[/link]
[link url="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/mabuyane-after-firing-gomba-i-want-to-preside-over-a-clean-government-20210218"]Full News24 report (Open access)[/link]
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/denosa-eastern-cape-response-to-the-firing-of-the-mec-of-health-2021-02-18"]Full statement on the Polity site (Open access)[/link]