A disciplinary committee has found Frere Hospital whistleblower Dr Nokuzola Ntshona guilty of speaking to the media, Dispatch Online reported on Tuesday.
She was found guilty on Monday on three of four charges of speaking out against the government’s reaction to a Daily Dispatch probe of Frere Hospital’s maternity section.
Two months ago, the newspaper reported about high numbers of babies said to be dying from avoidable causes at the institution.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and President Thabo Mbeki dismissed the reports.
Ntshona was suspended last month when she wrote two letters, one of which was addressed to Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane, highlighting problems at the hospital.
Details of both letters were published in the Dispatch and even though she refused to comment on them, the department saw this as a transgression.
Health and Other Personnel Trade Union of South Africa official Ruben Opperman, who represented Ntshona at the hearing, said the medic would know her fate by next Tuesday.
”There was no sanction towards her dismissal or a final warning. If she is dismissed, we are definitely going to weigh up our options on an appeal.”
Opperman said she was found guilty of releasing information to the media, of authoring correspondence without permission of her superiors and conducting radio interviews. — Sapa