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Gauteng Prime Minister David Makhura announced changes to his cabinet on Wednesday, which included the appointment of Nomathemba Mokgethi as the MEC for Health and Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance Parks Tau as the new MEC for Economic Development.
FILE: Premier David Makhura of Gauteng. Image: @ GautengProvince / Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – Gauteng Prime Minister David Makhura has denied that his hand has been forced in appointing a new provincial Health MEC.
Makhura announced changes to his cabinet Wednesday, which included the appointment of Nomathemba Mokgethi as the MEC for Health and Vice Minister of Cooperative Governance Parks Tau as the new MEC for Economic Development.
Morakane Mosupyoe was reassigned from Economic Development to Social Development.
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The appointments follow Makhura’s decision to remove Bandile Masuku in October after the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) recommended that the prime minister take administrative action.
Makhura insisted that as far as the provincial Health Department is concerned, it was the second rise in COVID-19 that prompted it to act.
This was despite his own words in October, when he refused to name a replacement for Masuku.
The prime minister said he could not wait for lengthy processes to unfold.
“SIU Investigations Underway [and] the judicial processes now … I can’t risk strengthening the Health Department and Gauteng’s response by getting bogged down in those processes, ”Makhura said.
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Makhura, who also appointed a group of experts to assist the department, said the Health Department had several areas of concern.
“The department doesn’t just have a problem at the top. It is deep, systemic and structural, ”he said.
He has predicted that Gauteng’s COVID-19 numbers would peak towards the end of this month and January.
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