Health MEC in fight for his life

With his very political career hanging in the balance, it’s no wonder that Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku is preparing to launch a career-saving legal battle in order to clear his name – but it is not going to be easy.

If Masuku does not fight to clear his name, he risks his political career dying in its infancy and his hard-earned and illustrious medical career will be blemished by allegations of corruption.

With public anger aimed at the alleged looters of Covid-19 funds through tender fraud, and the need to set an example, he has his work cut out.

Masuku, 44, began his career in government 14 months ago when the personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement fraud scandal broke in his department.

Following the May 2019 national elections, he was one of the political young bloods elevated into state organs – straight from the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), as part of ANC policy to ensure a leadership intergenerational mix at all levels.

Other ANCYL graduates in the David Makhura executive were Mbali Hlophe, who is MEC for sport, arts, culture and recreation, and Tasneem Motara, MEC for infrastructure development and property management.

They joined another former young lion, Lebogang Maile, MEC for human settlements, urban planning and cooperative governance and traditional affairs, who had been there for some time.

The ANC policy to elevate younger politicians to positions of power saw many of them sent to provincial administrations, legislatures and national Cabinet, as well as municipal councils.

The ANCYL former presidents who served in the national government over the years include Fikile Mbalula and Malusi Gigaba as well as, more recently, Ronald Lamola, Zizi Kodwa and Njabulo Nzuza, among others.

Makhura, Gauteng’s premier, fired Masuku on Friday last week based on the findings of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which said he had failed to execute his function in terms of the constitution and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

Masuku, along with his wife Loyiso, mayoral committee member for group corporate and shared services in Johannesburg, were implicated in Covid-19 tender corruption, prompting the ANC Gauteng to ask them to step aside.

The allegations emanated from the awarding of a PPE contract to a company owned by the husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko.

In his defence against the SIU finding, Masuku this week issued a 13-page statement rejecting any wrongdoing.

Masuku was adamant that in terms of the supply chain management principles and the PFMA, he was not allowed to instruct the chief finance officer and the departmental accounting officer, who is the head of department, on what to do with regards to tender matters.

His job was to conduct political oversight in the department by receiving monthly and quarterly reports from various directorates, including finance, and submitting them to the executive.

According to the statement, his duties might have been mistaken for those of the accounting officer by the SIU, hence its findings.

“The SIU report makes incorrect and non-factual findings about my role as executive authority,” Masuku said.

With the final SIU report still expected, Masuku will have to wait, especially because Makhura undertook to reinstate him should he be exonerated in the unit’s final report.

But indications are that the SIU initial findings will stand, even if the MEC is exonerated in the actual corruption allegations.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said they had evidence that Masuku had failed in the execution of his function, which was the reason that Makhura fired him.

If that was the case in the final report, it would be difficult for the premier to change his decision.

Born at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, Masuku matriculated at the famous Sekano-Ntoane Secondary School and graduated as a medical doctor from Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.

While there, he served on the South African Student Congress executive and became chair of the student representative council.

He served in the ANCYL national executive and became the league’s national spokesperson.

Prior to becoming an MEC, Masuku headed the obstetrics and gynaecology unit at the Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus and plied his trade at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Pholosong Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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