Note to Editors: Please note Dr Imran Keeka, MPL sound bite in English
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) notes the Office of the Health Ombud findings after a joint investigation into the tragic deaths of six healthcare professionals employed within provincial public hospitals.
The Ombud found no evidence of a direct causal link between the deaths and workplace bullying, victimisation or adverse working conditions at the hospitals investigated. At the same time, the investigation identified significant systemic challenges affecting healthcare professionals throughout KZN’s health system.
The DA welcomes the independent investigation. It has brought greater clarity to a matter that understandably caused immense public concern, particularly following the heartbreaking death of Dr Alulutho Mazwi.
The findings also serve to exonerate healthcare professionals and managers, against whom allegations were made without sufficient evidence, including the senior clinical consultant who faced suspension in the aftermath of Dr Mazwi’s death.
Every public servant is entitled to due process, and decisions affecting reputations must be guided by facts rather than public or union pressure.
While the report concludes that the deaths cannot be directly attributed to workplace bullying or working conditions, this must not be interpreted as a clean bill of health for KZN’s public healthcare system.
The Ombud’s findings acknowledge persistent systemic shortcomings that continue to place enormous strain on healthcare professionals. These include excessive workloads, staffing shortages, inadequate support structures, weaknesses in employee wellness programmes, management deficiencies, and institutional cultures, all of which require improvement.
The DA has consistently raised these concerns through oversights, parliamentary questions, debates and engagements with frontline healthcare workers. We continue to receive reports of excessively long working hours, severe staff shortages, overwhelming patient volumes, inadequate clinical support and workplace cultures in some facilities where junior staff feel unable to raise concerns freely. Whether described as intimidation, poor management or bullying, these experiences cannot be ignored simply because they remain difficult to quantify.
KZN’s Department of Health (DoH) must also not regard this report as an opportunity for self-congratulation. Instead, it should regard it as a mandate to urgently implement the Ombud’s recommendations and address systemic weaknesses that continue to undermine staff wellbeing and patient care. While it is understandable that this cannot be immediately addressed in the face of its long-standing poor financial predicament, there must be a commitment to prioritising these issues.
KZN’s Health Portfolio Committee must now request the full investigation report. It is duty-bound to interrogate its findings and recommendations in detail, identify areas requiring urgent intervention, and ensure that the DoH is held accountable for implementing it.
Healthcare professionals deserve safe, supportive and well-managed workplaces while KZN’s people deserve a healthcare system that enables dedicated professionals to provide quality care – without unnecessary administrative, operational or institutional obstacles.
The DA remains a committed partner of the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) where constructive oversight must be evidence-based, fair and focused on strengthening the provincial public healthcare system, for both patients and those who serve within it.