{"id":1453,"date":"2023-09-13T17:56:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T17:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/2023\/09\/13\/mec-lekwene-welcomes-the-appointment-of-dr-alastair-kantani-as-acting-head-of-department-hod-for-health-in-the-northern-cape-province\/"},"modified":"2023-09-13T17:56:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T17:56:09","slug":"mec-lekwene-welcomes-the-appointment-of-dr-alastair-kantani-as-acting-head-of-department-hod-for-health-in-the-northern-cape-province","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/2023\/09\/13\/mec-lekwene-welcomes-the-appointment-of-dr-alastair-kantani-as-acting-head-of-department-hod-for-health-in-the-northern-cape-province\/","title":{"rendered":"MEC LEKWENE WELCOMES THE APPOINTMENT OF DR. ALASTAIR KANTANI AS ACTING HEAD OF DEPARTMENT (HOD) FOR HEALTH IN THE NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-1452\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani.jpg\" style=\"width: 700px; height: 400px;\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/kantani-380x254.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">To : All Media Institutions Date : 13 September 2023<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Following the arrests of seven (7) officials employed at the Northern Cape Department of Health, and their appearance before the Magistrate Court in Kimberley on 23 August 2023. The Northern Cape MEC of Health, Mr Maruping Lekwene steered a series of consultations with relevant statutory <span style=\"font-family: inherit;\"><\/span>bodies, including the Office of the Premier, as part of his responsibility to strike a balance between the protection of the image of the Department, the rights of the employees accused on charges relating to fraud and corruption of PPE procurement, all competing public interests, as well as any internal investigation that must unfold.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">As part of consolidating our work in the direction that is expected of this government that we serve, MEC Lekwene this morning announced the changes in accordance with Section 32 of the Public Service Act, 1994, as amended as well as the Policy on Acting Allowance for Senior Management Service. Dr. Alastair Kantani has been duly appointed as acting Head of Department for Health, effective from 08 September 2023.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Furthermore, the Head of Department, Dr. Dion Theys has been transferred as a precautionary measure to occupy the post of a Medical Director in the Department of Health. This is in line with Chapter 7, clause 2.7(2) of the SMS Handbook, which states that a SMS member may be suspended or transferred as a precautionary measure pending the internal investigation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">In the case of the Chief Financial Officer in the Department, Mr Daniel Gaborone has also been transferred as a precautionary measure, from the Department of health to the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison into the vacant Chief Financial Officer position. The Department will identify and appoint a suitable official to act in the CFO position vacated by Mr Gaborone.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">With regards to the remaining (4) four officials also accused on the fraud, corruption and money laundering case, the Department will institute the necessary internal processes on the alleged accused officials. It must be noted that one (1) of the former accused official is already on retirement.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">This action is informed by our constitutional responsibility to ensure relative stability in the delivery of health care services in the Province.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Lastly, MEC Lekwene remains firm in his commitment to continue implementing all steps and measures to ensure that the department inculcate and sustains the culture of accountability and good governance.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\" style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: &quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">For enquiries, contact:<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Mr Lebogang Majaha<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Media Liaison Officer<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Office of the MEC for Health Northern Cape Province<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To : All Media Institutions Date : 13 September 2023 Following the arrests of seven (7) officials employed at the Northern Cape Department of Health, and their appearance before the Magistrate Court in Kimberley on 23 August 2023. The Northern Cape MEC of Health, Mr Maruping Lekwene steered a series of consultations with relevant statutory<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/2023\/09\/13\/mec-lekwene-welcomes-the-appointment-of-dr-alastair-kantani-as-acting-head-of-department-hod-for-health-in-the-northern-cape-province\/\" class=\"themebutton2\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}