Despite the closure of an Eastern Cape TB hospital two years ago, 45 of its staff have continued to be paid a total of R67m for doing nothing because they refused to be allocated to other facilities, and because the bankrupt Health Department has not put its foot down.
The Orsmond Tuberculosis Hospital in Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) was shut down in 2021 after its services were rendered non-essential due to the drop in local TB cases. Patients were referred to nearby facilities, including clinics, to collect medication, while the department and labour unions reached an agreement that staff should move to other facilities of their choice.
However, 45 of them refused to be re-allocated, despite advice from their unions, reports Sunday Tribune.
DA MPL Jane Cowley said: “Over the past two years, they have notched up salaries of more than R67m for doing nothing.” She added that 28 medical and 17 non-medical staff remained at the hospital, which was now dysfunctional and no longer admitting patients.
Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth said the rebellious employees earned about R32m in the 2021/22 financial year, which had increased to about R36m the next year.
She added that the department had run up expenses of more than R7.3m from the facility in the past two years, but did not elaborate on how those expenses had arisen.
The MEC said the department had undertaken a process of managing the labour dispute.
“Agreement has been reached with labour that in the interim, while the bigger organisation-wide service delivery optimisation and organogram are under review, the remaining staff will be gainfully employed,” and that the redeployment process “had been finalised last month”.
Meth’s spokesperson did not respond to questions on whether all of the defiant employees had finally agreed to the redeployment.
Cowley said medical staff had “reportedly been deployed at the facility without there being a single patient there, while nearby hospitals and clinics like the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital, Rosedale Clinic, Town Clinic and Kwanobuhle Clinic are all severely understaffed”.
“To date, no steps have been taken to discipline these employees, and it is unlikely that any action will be taken against them,” she added.
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