The Gauteng Health Department has started the tedious process of vetting all senior managers responsible for spending with only nine managers receiving clearance certificates thus far and 95 who have submitted the required documents still waiting to be processed.

Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says his department will vet 106 health officials in the supply chain and human resource management functions in the province, including Tshwane, as ‘part of strengthening governance systems’. Vetting includes a background check, verification of claimed qualifications as well as criminal records.

“Out of 106 senior management service officials, 104 have already submitted their documents for processing by the State Security Agency (SSA),” Modiba adds.

The agency provides national security threat and opportunity analysis to inform government decision-making.

He says SSA has already given nine managers their clearance certificates and was finalising the remainder. Two failed to meet their submission deadlines and will be subject to a disciplinary process.

SSA has already vetted around 1 550 health staff in the province, including those working in hospitals.

Modiba could not provide Pretoria Rekord with the exact number of senior officials who have been vetted in Tshwane.

“I don’t know how many officials have been vetted from the region. We categorise them by function, not region,” Modiba adds.

Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko says vetting was an important part of strengthening governance systems within the department.

“The department continues to run internal awareness campaigns to promote the importance of vetting and annual disclosures that officials have to make. This has seen greater cooperation among staff in terms of the current vetting process.”