”If an employee steals a chicken in one of our hospitals, why must I be sacked?” asked Manana when she spoke to the Mail & Guardian this week. ”There are 13 000 health workers employed in Mpumalanga and if one of them steals, why must I be punished?”
Mpumalanga Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu this week moved Manana from the health department to the sport, recreation, arts and culture portfolio after several investigations, including one by accounting firm KPMG, revealed fraud, nepotism and irregular tender procedures in the health department. The report to Mahlangu concluded that there was gross mismanagement in the handling of the province’s HIV/Aids funds.
Manana’s former head of department, Riana Charles, was also implicated in the irregularities. She has also been transferred: now she is deputy director general in the premier’s office.
But the provincial Cabinet re-shuffle has not caused the furore to abate. Opposition parties are calling for Manana’s dismissal. The situation has been aggravated by an allegation that Mahlangu sat on the damning report for six months and only released and acted on it when it was leaked to the media.
Manana said it was she who had ordered an investigation into the affair, but every time she asked for the results of the probe she was told by the premier’s office that they were not ready.
She was celebrating her appointment to the national executive of the African National Congress Women’s League on Sunday when journalists confronted her with the news that she had been moved out of the health department. Manana said Mahlangu only told her on Monday this week that he had reshuffled his cabinet, and gave no reasons.
Former provincial minister of social services Busi Coleman has replaced Manana in the health portfolio.
On Wednesday Mahlangu told a press conference that he still had confidence in Manana and thus would not dismiss her. There is speculation that Mahlangu, whose political support in the province is relatively weak, is wary of alienating Manana’s constituency any further.
Clive Hatch, a Democratic Alliance member in the provincial legislature, said the obvious candidate to fill the health post was ANC provincial chairperson Fish Mahlalela, the former local government MEC. But Mahlalela was fired by Mahlangu after he allegedly attempted to institute corruption investigations into Mahlangu’s supporters.
Mahlalela, however, later trounced Mahlangu in the race for the provincial chairpersonship two years ago. ”The ANC in this province is very divided,” said Hatch. ”I am sure the premier evaluated the political implications before acting on this issue.”
ANC provincial spokesperson Buks Mahlangu defended the premier’s actions. ”There would be chaos if we fired someone every time things went wrong. All of us err and we need to look at corrective measures. ”
But, he added, the ANC was keeping an eye on the scandal and would take disciplinary action if necessary.