Lesufi faces pressure to explain suspension of Gauteng health HOD

There is still suspense surrounding Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s announcement last week on the immediate suspension of Lesiba Malotana, Head of the Gauteng Department of Health and Wellness. The Premier made the announcement without providing reasons, leaving opposition parties demanding transparency and accountability.

Both the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have called for Malotana’s dismissal instead of suspension, accusing Lesufi of shielding corrupt officials while the province’s health system continues to deteriorate. The DA said the Premier must publicly disclose the reasons behind the decision to suspend the provincial health boss.

Dr Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, said there are numerous grounds for Malotana’s removal, but the public deserves to know the disciplinary charges he faces, particularly if they relate to corruption. Bloom said Lesufi had previously cited the ongoing Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into whether Malotana accepted bribes to influence two tenders as insufficient cause for removal, arguing that the investigation had not yet produced a final report.

Bloom said Lesufi’s defence of the department followed court rulings against it for failing to provide cancer treatment to patients, as well as repeated adverse findings from the Auditor-General. “What then was the final straw that led to his suspension? I suspect that he failed his lifestyle audit, and if so, we should be told,” Bloom said. He added that all decisions made by Malotana as HOD should be reviewed, including senior appointments in strategic areas such as supply chain management.

Bloom said the disciplinary process must not drag on for years while Malotana remains on full pay and warned against allowing him to resign before it concludes. “Criminal charges should be laid if he is found guilty of any wrongdoing,” Bloom said. He accused Lesufi of poor judgment in appointing Malotana and called for the removal of Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko. “The Premier must ensure that competent and honest officials are appointed in key positions to clean up the rot that has crippled the department,” he said.

Bloom said he will raise these issues during Premier’s Question Time at the Gauteng Legislature sitting this week.

The Premier’s Office last week said Malotana was suspended for a number of reasons but declined to give further details. When pressed by South African Daily on Monday, provincial spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said, “The Premier will have a media briefing on Wednesday and he will deal with this issue then.”

The suspension comes as the SIU intensifies its investigation into large-scale corruption within Gauteng’s health sector, including the R2 billion Tembisa Hospital network scandal. The probe uncovered inflated tenders, fake suppliers, and ghost companies that siphoned off public funds. Businessman Hangwani Maumela, a nephew of President Cyril Ramaphosa, has been linked to the network, although he has denied any wrongdoing.

The EFF in Gauteng described the suspension as “not an act of accountability but a political smokescreen designed to create an illusion of action.” In a statement, the party said the decision followed months of pressure from the EFF, which had “exposed and condemned the rot within the Gauteng Department of Health under Malotana’s leadership.”

“The people of Gauteng must not be fooled,” the EFF said. “This is not justice, it is a desperate attempt by the Premier to appear decisive while protecting the same corrupt individuals who have collapsed the province’s healthcare system.”

The EFF accused Lesufi of defending Malotana for over a year despite “overwhelming evidence of corruption, maladministration, and irregular expenditure.” The party cited ongoing SIU investigations into contracts involving BAS MedExpress and the Masakhane Cook Freeze Factory, which allegedly received millions through kickbacks and inflated tenders. “Malotana should have been fired long ago, not suspended,” the EFF said.

DA Gauteng spokesperson for Health, Madeleine Hicklin, called the suspension “an insult to taxpayers,” saying the Premier should have immediately terminated Malotana’s employment. “For years, this non-performing HOD has been protected by Premier Lesufi despite his name being linked to multiple scandals and an SIU investigation into a multimillion-rand bribe,” Hicklin said.

She accused Lesufi of arrogance, referencing an August sitting of the provincial legislature where the Premier allegedly dismissed opposition questions about Malotana’s lifestyle audit. “Lesufi is accountable to the citizens of Gauteng, not internal ANC factions,” she said.

“Malotana’s department has become synonymous with scandal, from the assassination of whistleblower Babita Deokaran to the R725 million underspend last year and the R250 million returned to Treasury that was meant for cancer treatment.”

The DA said a future DA-led government would prioritise ethical leadership and end what it described as a “culture of impunity” that enables officials to loot public coffers at the expense of patients.

The Gauteng Department of Health has for years been associated with corruption, inefficiency, and scandal. The assassination of Babita Deokaran in 2021, who was a key whistleblower in the Tembisa Hospital tender corruption case, remains a grim reminder of the dangers faced by those who expose wrongdoing in government.

While the SIU has so far frozen assets worth nearly R900 million linked to the Tembisa Hospital corruption network, questions remain about accountability and consequences for those implicated.

Residents of Gauteng have expressed frustration at the apparent lack of progress. Tembisa resident Nomasonto Mbatha, a frequent patient at the hospital, said she fears the suspended official will be quietly redeployed. “They suspend people and move them to another department, that’s not justice,” she said. “They must fire him and send all those stealing from hospitals to jail.”