Symposium talks on financial misconduct in the health sector
The symposium honours Babita Deokaran and strengthens calls for accountability within Gauteng Health
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation hosted a critical symposium on August 22 at the MANCOSA campus in Auckland Park, commemorating Babita Deokaran’s stand against financial misconduct.
The event aimed to honour her legacy and reinforce calls for accountability in the health sector.
Deokaran, who served as the acting chief director of financial accounting, was a whistle-blower who reported upwards about financial misconduct, blocking flagging transactions reportedly worth around 100m before her tragic assassination on August 23, 2021.
Read more: The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation shares the legacy of women who fought for SAs freedom
The symposium featured prominent speakers, including Professor Alex van den Heever from the Wits School of Governance, who discussed ongoing challenges related to financial irregularities.
He emphasised the distinction between ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ financial misconduct. “While bottom-up financial misconduct involves individuals at lower levels exploiting opportunities, top-down financial misconduct occurs when those in positions of authority manipulate the system for personal gain,” he said.
Leonard Lekgetho of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) said that in their unit, they have established the Health Sector Anti-Corruption forum, which was established as a result of the risk and work that they did to identify what are the vulnerable sectors in the country, and what came out was health. “We decided to establish this forum, which consists of civil society and the community. From our side, the fight against financial misconduct can happen if all of us can come together; it can not only be the responsibility of law enforcement.”
Bolton expressed hope that the symposium would shed light on reported financial irregularities within health facilities.
He urged attendees to maintain a spotlight on such misconduct within the health sector, emphasising that it is a critical issue that demands attention from both health professionals and the public.
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