STAFF REPORTER|
THE National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) ihas slammed the decision by the Department of Health to demote two senior officials implicated in the Digital Vibes scandal after having been found guilty by a disciplinary hearing.
The two senior officials, a Deputy Director General and Chief Director within the Department of Health, were found guilty by the disciplinary hearing over the Digital Vibes scandal.
The department incurred “irregular and fruitless expenditure” amounting to R150-million.
Nehawu believes tha the Department of Health should have acted decisively against them, and prosecuted them for their role in the scandal.
This is only a slap in the wrist for the two officials, and does not send a strong message to society about clean governance and administration of public resources, said Nehawu.
“We expected the department to send a clear message by taking a clear corrective measure as a sign that the department does not tolerate any acts of gross misconduct, corruption and mismanagement of public resources,” said Zola Saphetha, Nehawu’s General Secretary.
“We are dismayed that the department can act in such a manner by retaining in their employ the two individuals that have been found guilty in a scandal that not only embarrassed and brought the department in disrepute, but also exposed the rot and malfeasance that had occurred at the peak of COVID-19 when the country needed at its disposal every available resource to fight against COVID-19.”
Nehawu said it was infuriated by the decision to demote the two senior officials implicated in wrongdoing.
“Many of our members in the public service in particular the department of health have been charged and dismissed on ridiculous charges that are not even close to this scale of the Digital Vibes corruption scandal yet the department has not acted with the same vigour that it has done on our members,” said Saphetha.
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