Depts mum over R2m settlement

SILENCE has settled over an estimated

R2.5 million settlement agreement that was approved for the new HOD for Health, Steven Jonkers, after his contract was terminated at the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison in 2015.

This is apart from the R1 million compensation that the Office of the Premier was ordered to pay him in 2016 following an arbitration award that instructed that Jonkers should be reinstated as HOD at the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison in May last year. Jonkers was appointed as an administrator at the Department of Health in March and was promoted to HOD for Health as from August 1.

National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) branch secretary, Moleme Moleme, stated yesterday that the union was informed that the settlement would be processed by the Department of Health.

“This is while the cash-strapped Department of Health was not a party to the arbitration settlement or his previous contract at the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison,” said Moleme.

Spokesperson for the provincial Department of Health, Lulu Mxekezo referred media enquiries to the Office of the Premier, who in turn had not responded to enquiries by the time of going to press. Media enquiries directed to the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison and Provincial Treasury regarding the approval and authorisation of the transfer of the settlement award between the two departments, as well as whether any legal advice was obtained on the matter and where the funds would be sourced, also went unanswered.