The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday questioned whether accountability and consequence management are prioritised in the Department of Health (DoH), calling on Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi to clarify the suspensions of director-general Sandile Buthelezi and two senior officials.

On Thursday President Cyril Ramaphosa directed Motsoaledi to place Buthelezi, deputy director-general for hospitals services, tertiary health services and human resource development Dr Percy Mahlati and CFO Phaswa Mamogale on precautionary suspension following their arrests on allegations of fraud and theft.

The officials were arrested in an ongoing investigation into allegations of theft and fraud of over R1-million in public funds from the DoH.

The suspensions are said to be until their cases are finalised.

DA spokesperson on Health Michele Clarke questioned the suspensions, though, saying Motsoaledi’s statement did not make clear whether the suspension would apply until the matter is finalised within the criminal justice system, which she said could take years, or whether the Minister would employ an internal disciplinary process.

“A department that cannot afford to employ sufficient doctors or nurses cannot afford to indefinitely pay the salaries of three senior officials accused of corruption, fraud, and theft,” she explained.

The party said the investigations by the Hawks should be paralleled by an independent internal investigation, and the Minister needed to take the country into his confidence on whether the three officials were receiving their full salaries while under suspension, and what type of suspension that was.

The DA said it on Thursday asked Ramaphosa in Parliament how he was going to deal with the investigation and consequence management on this issue.