PAUL KIRK, Durban | Friday
AUDITORS have recommended that the national office of the South African National Tuberculosis Association (Santa) be closed down following revelations that Dr Andrew Ratsela, the CEO of Santa, is paid a salary of R500_000 a year for working two days each month.
Ratsela also had a Santa credit card with a R50_000 a year limit for incidentals, a petrol card and a top-of-the-line BMW for his use. Previous Santa CEOs had been either unpaid volunteers or were paid a token allowance.
The audit report, which has not yet been made public, claims that the national office of Santa in Gauteng has little or no communication with the 22 hospitals and clinics run by the association and wastes much-needed money and resources that should be used to combat tuberculosis (TB).
Following articles in the M&G about Ratselas package, the national Department of Health ordered an audit of the organisation, which leads the battle against TB in South Africa.
Though the audit has not yet been made public or given to Santas executive committee, the M&G has been shown parts of the report.
Among its findings are that Ratsela blew R5_000 on alcohol in a week, bought himself thousands of rands worth of clothing and frequently treated his entire family to lavish meals at top hotels and restaurants in Sandton.
Ratsela obtained a duplicate petrol card, which auditors suspect was used by his relatives. This financed thousands of rands worth of petrol. Ratsela denied having two petrol cards when quizzed by members of the organisation.
Santa centres throughout South Africa donate roughly 10% of their income to their national head office. Money collected by Santa centres comes entirely from donations and fund-raising schemes. It is supposed to be used by the national office to fund the administration of the association to help bail out poorer operations in rural areas.
Ratsela, according to the report, used all this income to finance the national office.
This week Ratsela agreed to be interviewed by the M&G, but changed his mind when he was told he would be questioned on the contents of the audit report. When the M&G phoned Santas national office, an assurance was given that Ratsela wanted to speak in order to clear his name.
However, when the M&G called back – after the deadline given to Ratsela had passed – we were informed he had left to test-drive a new 4×4.
South Africa has one of the highest TB infection rates in the world – 492 per 100_000 people.
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