Note to Editors: Please note Tim Brauteseth, MPL sound bite in English
The DA notes with increasing concern the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Health’s (DOH) formal response to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) following the Auditor-General’s 2024/25 Regularity Audit Report.
The department’s admission of a qualified audit opinion confirms what the DA has long warned – governance and financial management within KZN’s health sector are in crisis.
The report highlights serious issues including;
• Misclassified immovable assets
• R2.34 billion in irregular expenditure and;
• R1.75 billion in unpaid accruals – many of which exceed the 30-day payment term required by law.
These failures point to systemic weaknesses in leadership, oversight, and compliance.
To make matters worse, there is little evidence that effective consequence management is taking place. The DoH was asked to provide a full list of disciplinary cases and actions taken but could not do so.
SCOPA will be adopting resolutions to compel the department to report back on all of these issues by 31 January 2026.
Of further concern is the DoH’s exposure to the RT46 Transversal Contract, administered by WesBank. The DA is appalled that more than 1 300 vehicles – including 60% of ambulances and 52% of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) units – were out of service as of September 2025.
This has directly compromised emergency response capabilities and endangered lives across KwaZulu-Natal. The department’s own report details shocking inefficiencies including;
• Delayed inspections
• Poor workmanship
• Missing vehicle parts and;
• Possible collusion between WesBank officials and service providers.
These failures are not just operational – they are a betrayal of the public trust.
The DA welcomes SCOPA’s intention to call all stakeholders, including WesBank, National Treasury and KZN’s Department of Transport (DoT), to urgently account for this debacle. We will push, via our national colleagues, for a full forensic investigation into the RT46 contract and demand that consequence management be enforced without delay.
KZN’s people deserve a health system that is caring, ethical, functional, transparent, and accountable. As a responsible partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the DA will continue to fight for clean governance and quality service delivery in our province.