David Makhura ‘protected’ hospital boss

‘Nepotism” by suspended Tembisa Hospital chief executive Ashley Mthunz, accused of heading a provincial “corruption mafia”, was “concealed” by the Gauteng government, resulting in about R50 million being spent on vanity purchases such as a music concert and wrist watches. 

The ongoing Mail & Guardian investigation includes more than 1 000 pages of internal documents showing more than 100 invoices paid during Mthunzi’s tenure at Pholosong Hospital.

At least 10 sources in the provincial health system — in the government and in the civil service — have claimed that former Gauteng premier David Makhura was allegedly aware of, and “concealed”, Mthunzi’s gross misconduct.

Mthunzi was allegedly protected from a misconduct charge after he “irregularly” approved the appointment of Paul Moutloatse, the husband of Mthunzi’s personal assistant, Rhulani Moutloatse, at Pholosong Hospital in Ekurhuleni. 

A background check showed that Paul and Rhulani have been married since May 2011. 

In April and May 2020, Paul Moutloatse was among the more than 200 community health workers and hospital support staff meant to have been hired at Pholosong on a temporary 12-month contract at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The hospital support staff were part of the 8 000 workers recruited to work in the province’s health facilities. But in May 2020 Moutloatse was hired permanently as a food aid worker in the Pholosong Hospital kitchen. He had been a roof equipment handler at building retailer Cashbuild prior to working at Pholosong. 

This and other issues were raised by union members with the department about two months later. The expected expulsion of Mthunzi stemming from this apparent gross nepotism was apparently buried by the Gauteng government at the alleged approval of Makhura.

Paul Moutloatse did not answer questions sent to him, and hung up the phone. 

Mthunzi was suspended in August after News24 reported alleged multimillion-rand corruption by the chief executive, and alleged corruption flagged by Gauteng health department official Babita Deokaran. She was shot dead in August last year while working with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on inquiries into corruption in the health department. 

Rhulani Moutloatse acts as Mthunzi’s proxy while he is suspended, including attending a job interview on 17 November, to evaluate candidates on Mthunzi’s behalf. Rhulani also did not respond to requests for comment. 

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the unit was investigating possible flouting of supply-chain management processes with purchases related to Tembisa Hospital, and not other facilities. 

“However, if our investigation points to any wrongdoing by any individual, the SIU will recommend that the appropriate action be taken against them,” Kganyago said. 

Makhura called the allegations against him “absurd”, saying he could not have “shielded” someone he had only met in meetings. “This falsehood and absurdity can only be explained by the fact that my firm position against corruption has attracted strong hostility from politicians and public servants who will do everything to stop anyone who wants to stop state capture and the plunder of public resources.” 

Mthunzi did not respond to requests for comment. 

At height of the Covid-19 pandemic’s third wave of infections — during which about 26 700 people died, of which more than 5 300 were in Gauteng — Mthunzi hosted a music concert at Pholosong Hospital for R475 000, despite the curfew and gathering regulations that the government had enacted. 

The concert forms part of the 122 transactions traced by the M&G’s investigation at Pholosong, approved by Mthunzi and members of what insiders have called a “corruption mafia”, from May 2019 to August, during his tenure as that hospital’s chief executive. 

The M&G has previously reported on how Mthunzi moved around with the same management team at three Gauteng hospitals — Pholosong, Tembisa and Far East Rand, all of which are in Ekurhuleni — to centralise procurement and appointments, and allegedly syphon monies out of the facilities. 

Other frivolous purchases that Mthunzi allegedly signed for at Pholosong included a R490 000 one-minute promotional video showing the hospital’s management unit and it’s head, Rose Mashiyane. 

It is a grainy video that was uploaded on the hospital’s Facebook page in June last year from an outsourced service provider that does not appear on company searches, despite Pholosong Hospital having a communications and marketing department. 

Mashiyane, along with Joshua Fernandes, is part of the management team Mthunzi moved around with. Both Mashiyane and Fernandes are working at Tembisa Hospital, but are still being paid their Pholosong salaries. 

All the transactions at Pholosong Hospital had Mashiyane’s signature on them, along with Mthunzi’s. 

A deep dive into the more than 1 000 pages of invoices show that the hospital paid inflated prices for repairs and renovations at the hospital, including a R51 270 invoice in December 2019 to fix a lawnmower. A visit to the hospital found that it had only push lawnmowers and, based on average prices at retailers, 17 lawnmowers could have been bought for the price to repair one. 

In the same month, Mthunzi approved the purchase of 200 male and female Seiko wristwatches for R98 000. A standard Seiko wristwatch retails for about R263. But Pholosong Hospital paid R490 for each watch, which were to be handed to employees at “service awards”. 

None of the expected recipients received their prizes. 

All 122 transactions, totalling more than R48 million, were below the R500 000 threshold regulated by the treasury. Contracts for more than that amount have to be advertised for competitive bids. 

The M&G’s sources, all of whom asked to remain anonymous out of fear of intimidation, said departmental managers where Mthunzi operated were sidelined by the alleged “corruption mafia” to force through the vanity purchases. 

“Mthunzi’s management style is authoritarian and those who question authority or the status quo are victimised and neutralised through unfair and crooked labour processes such as a precautionary transfer,” reads a document prepared for the M&G by concerned sources. 

The document added that all posts “had to go through” Mthunzi during the advertising and interviewing process. 

“Nepotism and irregular appointments of cronies, friends and relatives by members of the executive are the order of the day,” it states.

It is the misconduct charge flowing from the alleged nepotistic appointments made by Mthunzi that Makhura and his provincial government are accused of shielding the suspended chief executive from. 

“Makhura and his government protected Mthunzi, and this is why he was appointed chief executive of Tembisa at the time when he was supposed to face a disciplinary hearing,” said a source. 

In September last year, Mthunzi was to have faced a disciplinary hearing that could have resulted in his expulsion for the alleged nepotism, according to a Gauteng legislature reply by the province’s former health head, Nomathemba Mokgethi. 

Makhura dismissed claims that he helped shield Mthunzi, saying he had recommended Mthunzi’s suspension and requested the SIU to investigate the alleged corruption 

Makhura added that premiers were not involved in disciplining civil servants. 

“The [chief executives] are disciplined by the head of the department. We only intervene where there is reluctance to take action.” 

Written questions, calls and text messages sent to the provincial health department on Monday went unanswered.

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