DA delighted as Mtshali resigns

SCANDAL: PARTY WANTS HEALTH MEC TO FOLLOW SUIT

Oncology crisis has led to several deaths of patients.

The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed the resignation of the province’s head of the health department, Dr Sifiso Mtshali, amid the oncology machines scandal, but further called for the removal of the province’s MEC for health.

This comes after KZN Premier Willies Mchunu announced yesterday he has accepted Mtshali’s resignation to avoid further legal and forensic costs being incurred and to bring finality to the issue of the cancer patients’ crisis and the scandal of repairs to oncology machines.

DA provincial health spokesperson Dr Imran Keeka said the announcement came as no surprise.

“It was expected he would have been fired anyway. The premier’s remarks suggest he has done so in the best interest of the province. While this may be the case, the premier has shown no political leadership in holding the bigger culprit, [health] MEC [Dr Sibongiseni] Dhlomo, to account,” Keeka said.

“For as long as he sits on his hands and does not fire the failed MEC, he must not expect KZN health to turn around. The diseased department has seen heads of department, CEOs and other senior staff come and go but MEC Dhlomo continues to ruin KZN health.”

The provincial government recently embarked on a major intervention to address issues arising from management and administration in the KwaZulu-Natal department of health.

It has been alleged the appointment of KZN Oncology to repair oncology machines at Addington Hospital in Durban was irregular and illegal.

Last month, Mtshali was suspended over the oncology crisis which has led to the death of an undisclosed number of cancer patients and saw an exodus of oncologists. He was appointed as the head of department in June 2015 after running Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.

Mchunu said he had been in consultations with the provincial executive, particularly Dhlomo and the MEC for finance Belinda Scott, in a bid to resolve non-repairs to oncology machines.

Keeka said Mchunu should understand that the department now has, at the helm, an MEC who has lost control of the department, an acting HOD and an acting chief financial officer.

“If this is not a recipe for further disaster, then what is? He needs to act urgently,” Keeka said.

“First he needs to fire the MEC and ensure that the acting posts are filled on a full-time basis. The people of KZN deserve better leadership and must punish the premier and his government for the suffering in our healthcare facilities.” – ANA HMS Queen Elizabeth, yesterday.

The warship, which cost £3 billion (about R54 billion) to build, was hailed as “a true flagship for the 21st century”.

“HMS Queen Elizabeth embodies the best of British technology and innovation,” the queen said at the ceremony on board the ship in Portsmouth on England’s south coast.

“She will in the years and decades ahead represent the country’s resolve on the global stage,” she said.

The mighty ship can operate with a crew of 1 000 and 40 aircraft on deck, and measures 280 metres in length and weighs 65 000 tons.

Britain has been without any aircraft carrier strike capability since the government scrapped previous vessels in 2010 as part of austerity measures to curb a huge deficit.

The queen named the ship in 2014, smashing a bottle of whisky on its side, but it is not expected to be fully operational for another four years.

The project had been dogged by questions about the US-built F-35 jets, due to be deployed on the aircraft carrier, and about the need for mammoth aircraft carriers when Britain’s military role in the world has diminished.

The F-35 stealth fighter, which is being built by the US in conjunction with Britain and other countries, has been heavily criticised for its high price tag and a series of delays over air safety concerns. –