Gauteng health HOD Lesiba Malotana has been suspended weeks after the SIU revealed widespread corruption in the department.
Gauteng Department of Health head of department (HOD) Lesiba Malotana has been placed on suspension with immediate effect.
Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced Malotana’s suspension on Tuesday morning in light of revelations made regarding a procurement syndicate operating within the provincial health structures.
The health department has been under intense pressure after the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) detailed how over R2 billion had been siphoned from Tembisa Hospital.
“The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) reaffirms its full support for the work of the SIU and other law enforcement agencies,” stated the GPG.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment in our commitment to root out maladministration and to uphold the highest standards of accountability and ethical leadership.”
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Malotana will be replaced by Dr Darion Barclay, who will be drafted in to fill the HOD position on an acting basis.
Barclay had been serving as the HOD for Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs, a portfolio that covers many aspects of municipal governance.
Administration calls
The DA has been calling for Malotana’s removal for two years, questioning whether his appointment was above board.
DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga accused Lesufi of partaking in a public relations exercise and suggested that greater measures needed to be taken.
“The whole health department needs to be put under administration, and there needs to be a forensic investigation into all the dealings that have happened recently in the department,” Msimanga told The Citizen.
“Now Panyaza is acting, not because this is the right thing to do, which he should have done two years ago, but he is acting because he wants to be seen to be doing something,” Msimanga added.
While announcing Malotana’s suspension, the GPG said it would be making the performance agreements of Lesufi’s MECs public this week.
Questions over Malotana’s appointment
Over a year ago, the DA launched a petition to review Malotana’s appointment, noting how the SIU’s investigation was already making headway.
“It should not be forgotten that the department tried to cover up the corrupt payments at Tembisa Hospital revealed by murdered whistleblower Babita Deokaran,” the party stated in September 2024.
That same month, parliament’s portfolio committee on public service and administration noted that Malotana was appointed despite the SIU alleging he was part of an R8 million bribery scandal.
“There is a question of whether proper procedures were followed in Mr Malotana’s appointment, including verification of his qualifications and consideration of alleged corrupt activities,” committee chair Jan de Villiers stated in 2024.
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DA Gauteng spokesperson for health Madeleine Hicklin said “for years, this non-performing HOD has received high-level protection from Lesufi”.
Hicklin said in August this year, during a question session with Lesufi, he offered a terse reply to Jack Bloom, the DA’s shadow MEC of health, when he questioned whether Malotana had failed his lifestyle audit or not.
“Lesufi responded that he was awaiting the finalisation of the audit and that he was not accountable to the DA, he was accountable to the ANC,” she said.
Hicklin said the premier was wrong because he is answerable to the citizens of Gauteng, not to internal factions of the ANC.
The SIU investigation of Malotana relates to the alleged manipulation of supply chain processes in 2016 and 2017 in favour of a company called BAS Medxpress.
Malotana and two officials allegedly took R8m bribes
It has been alleged that Malotana and two senior officials – Edgar Motha and Sheriff Lecholo – took bribes to the tune of R8 million.
The case made headlines a year and a half ago when AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism lifted the lid on an affidavit from a whistle-blower, who himself was part of the alleged tender-rigging scheme.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the probe will focus on two supply contracts – one for plastic containers and another for orthopaedic instruments – to determine if any actions broke laws, policies, or Treasury or health department rules, and whether they may be fraudulent.
However, yesterday, Kganyago maintained in a comment to Daily Maverick the unit “is not aware of the reasons behind the suspension of the Gauteng department of health’s head… The SIU’s investigations into the affairs of the Gauteng department are ongoing. Therefore, we cannot disclose any information at this time.”
Bloom said: “We cannot afford another Life Esidimeni situation, when nine years later not a single person has been charged. The same culture of delay and impunity must not take hold here. At least now, the SIU is going after the wealth of the kingpins – something we never saw then.”
The portfolio committee on public service welcomed the suspension, with De Villiers saying the move “underscores the imperative of accountability, integrity and ethical leadership in public service, and that transgressions must be met with decisive consequences.”
