THE government has resolved to cut ties with the
The parasitic relationship between the government and the
Health Minister Semano Sekatle announced the decision at a press conference at his ministry's headquarters in
QMMH was opened in
Mr Sekatle said the government felt it could no longer continue its 18-year
South African healthcare group,
However, the consortium has been under fire for allegedly fleecing the government and flouting the tenets of the agreement over the years. Its operations have also been hamstrung by ubiquitous staff strikes for salary increments since 2012.
Mr Sekatle said although the government and the consortium had differed over many issues, the final straw was the latter's weekend decision to fire 345 striking nurses and nursing assistants at the institution.
The nurses, who went on strike since
They went on strike to press the government and QMMH to award them salary increments to match their counterparts in other government and private institutions.
QMMH nurses said they have not been awarded any increments since 2012 when the government and the
According to the
The nurses defiantly continued with their strike despite a
QMMH Public Relations Manager Mothepane Thahane had said the hospital would continue working with skeletal staff until after the nurses' posts were filled.
However, the dismissals of the nurses which only served to further cripple the ailing health sector already struggling to deal with Covid-19 infections, did not go down well with the government, forcing its unexpected decision to cut ties with the consortium.
Mr Sekatle said the government was particularly unhappy with fact that the QMMH management fired the nurses without first consulting or informing it.
He said following the dismissal of the nurses, a government sub-committee met on Tuesday and resolved that the government must sever ties with the consortium due to the "toxic nature" of the relationship.
"Today the government has instructed the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance to cut ties between the government and the
"We are going to do this by following the legal procedures as it is only best to handle the matter lawfully to avoid further challenges.
"When the government entered into a
"What we thought was going to benefit our healthcare system has only brought many challenges from day one. Some of these problems have culminated in this dispute (over striking nurses)," Mr Sekatle said.
He said the two parties had over the years quarreled over many issues including the opening and operation of a private ward for patients.
"This (private) ward was established to admit (higher end) private patients who would pay more for services. Tsepong used it for their own gain as they admitted ordinary patients to make more money.
"The other bone of contention concerned the demands for salary increments by employees. The consortium refused to award increments to match those that had been awarded by the government in its other facilities and church-run institutions. They said we had to give them more money before they could award any increments. This despite that more than half the health ministry's annual budget goes to the consortium.
"This is the issue that has now caused the strike which led to the dismissal of nurses. These are just examples of the issues that explain our relationship with the consortium," Mr Sekatle said.
He subsequently told this publication that they had already informed the consortium of their intention to cut ties.
He said in terms of the PPP agreement, they were required to give a 20-day notice of their intention to cancel the agreement.
"To begin with, the PPP agreement was skewed in favour of the consortium. But we gave them notice this week of our intention to terminate our relationship. We now await their response and if there are any disagreements, we have to agree on an arbitrator. The issue could even end up in the courts of law. But this is a route we are prepared to take because there's no way we can continue with this arrangement when it is not benefitting the government and the nation," Mr Sekatle said last night.
Asked what would happen to the fired nurses, Mr Sekatle said they would return to work as soon as the "divorce" with the consortium was finalised.
"They will also receive the long-delayed salary increments because there is no reason why they continued being paid less than their counterparts in other health institutions," Mr Sekatle said.
He said the government would look to partner with local and other companies to ensure the hospital provided excellent service as the country's main referral institution.
Until then, the nurses would remain fired, he said.
Over the years, QMMH has experienced several challenges including infighting among the companies in the
QMMH is facing serious financial challenges which the other shareholders have blamed on
The companies made the accusations in response to
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