Tebogo Msimanga
A team from the North West Department of Health led by Administrator Jeanette Hunter on Wednesday, 12 August 2020 raided offices at the Mmabatho Medical Depot.
The raid uncovered unpaid invoices of 50 companies worth millions. Some of the unpaid invoices date back to 2014.
In a released statement Health MEC Madoda Sambatha said they owe companies who are the suppliers of medical depot. As a result, they are unable to get enough supply of medicine from the same companies because we owe them.
“There are people who are employed to process invoices by the Provincial Government and they are not doing their job. This technically leads to unavailability of medicine in the medical depot. It breaks my heart to know that there are people in the Department who decide to withhold payment of medicine which should be assisting our parents, family members and communities at large. It’s treasonous and the situation has to be corrected,” he said.
Four managers (2 from medical depot and 2 from provincial office) in Mahikeng have been put on precautionary suspension following alleged mismanagement involving expired medication, Depot and staff.
Sambatha added that a plan to improve delivery timelines and turnaround is in place. It involves direct deliveries of medication to hospitals while the medical depot will now deliver directly to clinics.
