Strike threat over return of hospital bosses
Livingstone managers allowed back but unions vow to chase them away
Unions have threatened a renewed strike at Port Elizabeth’s Livingstone Hospital after six managers suspended three months ago amid allegations of misconduct have been allowed to return to work on Monday next week, following an arbitration hearing.
The ruling was made by the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council, which questioned why the provincial health department had allowed the suspensions to continue for so long and why it had failed to provide any details of its investigation into the unions’ allegations.
Sectoral bargaining council commissioner Clarence Randall also ordered that the provincial health department pay each of the managers six months’ salary – a total of R3.65m – as damages for the “continuing unfairness” and damage to their reputations caused by the suspensions.
The health department is planning to take the ruling on review.
The entire management team was suspended in November after workers embarked on a violent strike at the hospital, demanding their removal.
Randall ruled at the arbitration hearing that the suspensions of Livingstone CEO Thulane Madonsela, human resources director Victor Tobo, finance director Michael Byrnes, nursing services manager Ronel du Preez, senior manager for medical services Dr Mojalefa Maseloa and manager for soft services – including hospital security – Mcebisi Gcotana, were more punitive than precautionary.
A seventh manager who was suspended – information technology head Ullyndyss Maloy – did not join his colleagues in the dispute lodged with the bargaining council as he is represented by a union.
Randall said there was no basis for the department to have suspended the managers for such a prolonged period – more than three months.
He also questioned why the department had failed to provide any information on its investigation to the hearing.
He said the department could not even say who was conducting the probe, when it would be finalised, and what was being investigated.
In early November, workers embarked on an unprotected strike at the hospital, demanding that the management be removed from the facility due to alleged fraud and corruption.
This followed the arrest of more than 80 hospital employees for theft.
A list of what the suspended managers described as “vague allegations” was put forward in a document addressed to the health department superintendent-general, Dr Thobile Mbengashe.
On November 7, the managers received a letter from Mbengashe stating that he was considering placing them on suspension during an investigation into the alleged misconduct. The managers then asked to be placed on special leave as they had been promised that the investigation would be finalised in three weeks.
Mbengashe approved their leave but, the next day, reversed his decision and placed them on precautionary suspension instead.
The managers claimed they had only ever received a letter with vague allegations.
They said they had only been given two hours to respond before being suspended the next day.
In making the ruling, Ran“We dall said the department had failed to share any details of the investigation with the arbitration hearing.
“[There are] no further details regarding the progress of the investigation, who is conducting the investigation, why the investigation was not completed by November 26 2018.”
The department also failed to hold a suspension hearing within 60 days.
In response to the judgment, trade unions, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and the Democratic Nurses Organisation of SA (Denosa) have threatened to go on strike if the managers are allowed back at the hospital.
will be ready and joining Nehawu when they chase the managers away,” Denosa spokesperson Khaya Sodidi said.
“The reason for this decision is that we feel the judgment by the bargaining council is dealing with Bhisho’s internal processes and does not address our allegations of fraud and corruption,” he said.
Nehawu spokesperson Miki Jaceni did not respond to a request for comment.
But in a series of text messages to Nehawu members, the branch chair of the union at Livingstone, Samkelo Msila, said that Nehawu was mobilising workers to be ready for the return of the managers.
“Tomorrow [Tuesday] you are requested to put on your union T-shirt.
“We have also called for a general meeting in this regard to ensure we chase all of them [managers] out,” one message reads.
During the November strike, police had to escort managers from the hospital amid threats of violence.
Health department spokesperson Lwandile Sicwetsha said it had been decided at a high-level meeting in Bisho on Monday night that the ruling would be taken on review.
“The rationale for this is that the department has instituted a forensic investigation into serious allegations of fraud and corruption and has not received this report yet,” he said.
The six affected managers referred a reporter to their attorney, Chris Unwin from Kaplan Bloomberg, who said they did not want to comment.
Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA’s (Hospersa) Kevin Halama said it had not yet received a briefing on the matter from its provincial leaders.