HPCSA axes top officials

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has "parted ways" with its registrar/chief executive officer, chief operations officer and head of legal services.

Mail & Guardian, 27 April 2016

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has "parted ways" with its registrar/chief executive officer, chief operations officer and head of legal services. The announcement comes nearly six months after a ministerial task team investigation revealed that the HPCSA, which regulates the education, training, registration and practice of health professionals, was "in a state of multi-system organisational dysfunction". Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi appointed the task team in March last year following an increase in the number of complaints against HPCSA from individual doctors and industry associations.
Several complaints alleged maladministration, irregularities, mismanagement and poor governance at the Council. Over the past decade, the HPCSA has become notorious for taking excessively long to register particularly foreign health professionals in South Africa. In a report of its findings, the task team recommended that the trio be suspended while disciplinary proceedings were instituted against them.

The registrar, chief operations officer and head of legal services refused to co-operate with the investigation. Registrar Buyiswa Mjamba-Matshoba was found to have displayed a lack of leadership, substandard work, as well as possible insubordination for refusing to appear before the task team.

Chief operations officer Tshepo Boikanyo "was implicated in acts of unauthorised, irregular and/or fruitless and wasteful expenditure". Phelelani Khumalo, who is the head of legal services, "showed complete disregard for the gravity of the status of the HPCSA".