KNYSNA POLITICAL NEWS - The Good Party in Knysna has questioned transformation at the Knysna Hospital and the Department of Health in the Garden Route.

In an e-mail shared with KPH dated 20 April 2021, sent by Good convener in Knysna John Williams to the provincial Department of Health, the appointment of an acting primary healthcare manager in Knysna Hospital is questioned. 

Williams states that their office has been inundated with complaints from communities, organisations and workers about the health services in the Garden Route and Knysna in particular.

"The main problem is the management of the department which is lily-white and not transformed. In the district office the head is a black person but the rest of the management team is white. In Knysna the entire management team is white," he said.

Williams said the primary healthcare manager in Knysna is sick, but the person who is acting is a junior line sister.

"That is to keep out the legitimate deputy primary healthcare manager who should automatically act in the absence of her boss. The assistant manager is black and the junior line functionary is white," he said.

Williams called on Minister Nomafrench Mbombo and the head of the department, Dr Keith Cloete, to explain why this happened under their watch.

"Is the Garden Route or Knysna not part of South Africa or doesn't the Employment Equity Act apply in the Garden Route or Knysna?" he asked.

Responding to Williams in an e-mail dated 26 May 2021, Rural Health Services chief director Dr Renette Crous said the fact that they have appointed a person of colour as the head of the district demonstrates that they are actively seeking to address employment equity as and when senior positions become available.

"The head of people management in the district is also a person of colour. Managerial positions for the district and sub-districts are advertised in the weekend newspapers as well as in Public Service Vacancy Circular (PSVC) in order to source a wide as possible representative pool of candidates," she said.

Crous said appointments are made with a view to promote the employment equity targets of the department and to appoint the most suitable candidates. "The director of the district also chairs appointment panels for management posts."

Crous said the deputy primary health care manager has been appointed to act in the position as of 15 February until further notice. 

"We are committed to addressing the employment equity concerns raised by you (Williams). However, it is unfortunately a process and will take time to address the inequalities of the past," said Crous.

The department's spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said, "Our department follows the necessary recruitment processes to appoint the most suitable and appropriate candidate, in line with the Employment Equity Act to any position. We do not base this on any race - but on the competencies of the applicant".

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