The suspension of hospital superintendent Nokuzola Ntshona has created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among conscientious public officials, the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) said on Wednesday.
”The PSAM is gravely concerned by the precedent set by the suspension of Dr Ntshona [superintendent of the Cecilia Makiwane hospital].
”This suspension creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, which will have the perverse consequence of preventing conscientious public officials from meeting their constitutional obligations,” a PSAM statement said.
These obligations require public servants to ensure that available public healthcare resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible to help realise people’s right to adequate healthcare.
Part of this responsibility involves reporting inadequacies in the performance of institutions and officials to relevant authorities and to the public at large, the PSAM continued.
Ntshona’s suspension came in the wake of the sacking last week of deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge for visiting the hospital unannounced and declaring the maternity section a national emergency, in addition to flying to Spain to attend an HIV/Aids conference without authorisation.
Letter to the president
Ntshona wrote to President Thabo Mbeki, agreeing with Madlala-Routledge’s findings on Frere Hospital. These findings clashed with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s conclusion that although there were equipment and staff shortages at the hospital, Madlala-Routledge’s conclusion was based on untruths.
Ntshona’s letter was leaked to the Daily Dispatch, which recently published a report on conditions at the hospital and the number of avoidable deaths of babies.
”The PSAM wishes to remind the CEO of the East London Hospital Complex, Mr Luvuyo Mosana, as well as the head of the Eastern Cape department of health that all public officials have a constitutional right to the right to freedom of expression.
”Specifically, the PSAM wishes to alert the above officials and the Eastern Cape MEC [provincial minister for health, Nomsa Jajula, to the fact that Dr Ntshona’s letter to President Mbeki would constitute a protected disclosure in terms of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000.
”Section 7 of this Act protects any disclosure made in good faith by any member of an organ of state to a member of Cabinet. The Act prohibits any employee from being subjected to occupational detriment, such as suspension from duty, as a result of making such a disclosure.”
The PSAM called on all Eastern Cape public officials and political representatives to ”place their loyalty to the Constitution before their loyalty to their political leaders”.
Ntshona told radio station SAFM on Wednesday morning that she had not spoken to the media on the subject apart from talking to a photographer who was going to write about her life.
She said her letter to Mbeki was written as a concerned citizen of South Africa and apologised for using official notepaper.
The Sunday Times reported that her letter to Mbeki was considered a breach of protocol because she had not consulted her superiors first.
Fight for HIV treatment
Meanwhile, the storm over the axing of Madlala-Routledge should not distract the fight for HIV/Aids treatment, says Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) chairperson Zackie Achmat.
”We support Nozizwe, but above all, we support the National Strategic Plan,” he told students at the University of Cape Town on Wednesday. ”Let us not be side-tracked and forget that the most important thing is to ensure that people get antiretrovirals.”
Achmat said the TAC will put pressure on the government to implement the National Strategic Plan for HIV and Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
He was speaking at the launch of the university’s HIV-testing campaign.
Hannah Hussey, one of the students leading the TAC campaign at the university, said Madlala-Routledge had played a leading role in the development of the plan.
”Madlala-Routledge created a new partnership that contributed to the development of this plan. She fought for a scientific approach to HIV medicine based on the principles of universal access to treatment and comprehensive evidence-based prevention.
”The TAC believes we can best show our support for Madlala-Routledge by galvanising public support for the implementation of the [plan],” she said.
Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, who was scheduled to speak at the event, did not arrive. Busisiwe Skosana, one of the event organisers, said they were only informed on the last minute that Vavi was no longer going to attend. — Sapa