ActionSA has called for the Hawks to launch a criminal investigation into Gauteng government officials linked to the failed repair project at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, following explosive findings by Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka that exposed maladministration, financial irregularities and serious failures in project management after the devastating hospital fire.
The Public Protector’s investigation found that maladministration, poor planning, budget underspending and weak coordination between the Gauteng Department of Health and the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development contributed to years of delays in repairing the fire-damaged hospital.
Gcaleka found that only R324 million of the more than R666 million allocated for repairs between 2021 and 2024 had been spent by March 2024, amounting to just over 51% budget utilisation. The report linked persistent underspending, procurement delays and poor project management to escalating repair costs and prolonged disruptions to healthcare services at the hospital.
The Public Protector further identified repeated disputes, poor coordination and bureaucratic conflict between the two departments as major contributors to delays in restoring the facility, concluding that the conduct of the departments amounted to maladministration and resulted in undue prejudice to patients and healthcare workers who rely on the hospital.
ActionSA Member of Parliament Kgosi Letlape said the scale of the failures warranted urgent criminal scrutiny by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
“ActionSA will write to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), requesting the initiation of an inquiry into the potential criminal conduct of Gauteng government officials involved in the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital fire repair project.”
Letlape said the findings reflected one of the most serious examples of governance collapse in the public healthcare sector in recent years.
“A damning report released by the Public Protector raises alarm bells about potential violations of the Public Finance Management Act, evidenced by clear findings of maladministration, irregularities, budget underspending, poor financial controls and failures in project management that require urgent and comprehensive investigation,” he said.
While the Public Protector has already referred aspects of the matter to the Auditor-General of South Africa for further auditing processes, ActionSA insists this alone is not enough.
“ActionSA believes this must run concurrently with a full criminal investigation because the troubling scale and severity of the conduct uncovered demand that justice be pursued urgently.”
The party also plans to request that the Minister of Health and Gauteng Health MEC urgently brief Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health on the matter.
Letlape said the prolonged delays and deteriorating conditions at the hospital had placed lives at risk and intensified pressure on healthcare workers operating under compromised conditions.
“The conduct of incompetent public officials placed the lives of patients at risk, severely undermined access to public healthcare, and imposed intolerable conditions on healthcare professionals attempting to serve communities under already compromised circumstances,” he added.
Previously, The Star reported that the Gauteng Health Department spent more than R46.7 million over three years on two contractors tasked with implementing fire detection and suppression systems across provincial hospitals, despite ongoing concerns about hospitals remaining non-compliant with fire safety regulations.
In a written reply to the Gauteng Legislature, the then Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko revealed that contractors Modipadi Nokaneng and the Ngwato and Manzi Group received R28.8 million and R17.9 million respectively between 2022/23 and 2024/25 for services linked to fire detection and suppression systems.
DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom questioned why the companies were allegedly seeking an additional R44 million despite hospitals still failing to comply with Occupational Health and Safety regulations.
Repeated fires at Gauteng healthcare facilities over recent years have further intensified scrutiny over fire safety compliance across the province’s public health system.
Meanwhile, Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale said the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance met on Tuesday, May 26, with key stakeholders, including Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and provincial MECs responsible for health and infrastructure, to discuss interventions following the Public Protector’s report.
“The two ministers will meet numerous stakeholders, including Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, provincial MECs responsible for infrastructure and health at the facility to discuss the way forward to address all issues raised in the report as part of efforts to improve access to essential healthcare at the facility.”
ActionSA said it would closely monitor compliance with the Public Protector’s remedial actions and continue pursuing accountability against officials implicated in the hospital’s continued decline.
The Star