The Eastern Cape provincial government has set aside R3.2m to establish a litigation unit within Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s office in a move it hopes will help curb medico-legal claims against the Department of Health. A Daily Dispatch report says acting finance MEC Nonkqubela Pieters made the announcement while delivering the province’s midterm expenditure budget adjustments at the Bhisho legislature.
She said the multi-disciplinary task team would comprise officials from Mabuyane’s office, the Eastern Cape Treasury, Eastern Cape Health Department and a number of independent legal minds. The announcement came after AG Kimi Makwetu revealed that provincial medico-legal claims in the 2018/19 financial year had increased to R29bn from R24bn the previous year. The figure exceeded the department’s entire annual budget by R5bn.
Makwetu – in his latest audits of all national and provincial government departments and state entities – found a total of R797m was paid by the Health Department for medico-legal claims in the year under review, of which R460m "was funded by an overdraft facility". He said this "was not sustainable and placed further pressure on the fiscus".
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