Daily Archives: August 12, 2020

Lehari visits Mogwase Police Station to monitor compliance amid COVID-19     

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police-vest

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management in North West, Sello Lehari visited Mogwase Police Station near Rustenburg on Wednesday. Lehari said the aim of his visit was to monitor compliance over lockdown regulations amid COVID-19.

“The police are at the forefront of enforcing law enforcement on COVID-19 regulations and it is therefore important for them to lead by example regarding compliance issues. That is the reason why we are here today. I am happy that this station is definitely leading by an example,” he said.

In an engagement with the department’s Directorates for Monitoring and Oversight on Police as well as Crime Prevention officials, the Station Commander Colonel Oupa Raphata confirmed that the station is trying its best to create a safer environment for the law officers and public visiting the station for various services.

Raphata said the station was shut down three times already following confirmed COVID-19 cases.

“We only had three positive cases here, and we closed for 24 hours per incident to decontaminate the station. We are pleased that all affected members have since recovered. The station has enough supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and, we conduct the disinfection of the station regularly.

“We also ensure that our community members observe social distancing while waiting for assistance and encourage them to wash their hands. They are also sanitized after screening at the entrance of our Community Service Centre (CSC),” said Raphata.

Meanwhile, the police station has established a COVID-19 steering committee, which is responsible for collating reports and adhering to the protocols and monitor compliance according to regulations. Raphata added that the station has further put measures to restrict officers’ unnecessary movements, while on duty to ease the contact tracing in case there is a positive case.

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Shocking: Unpaid invoices worth millions uncovered at North West medical depot

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MEC Sambatha

By BAKANG MOKOTO

North West MEC for Health, Madoda Sambatha said ‘heads will roll’ after unpaid invoices worth millions uncovered at the Mmabatho Medical depot on Wednesday. Sambatha said the unpaid invoices belong to more than fifty companies and date back from 2014.

“The medical depot could not pay companies as invoices were missing. As a result, companies stopped supplying medication which has affected stock level at the medical depot. A decision was then made to raid the offices and block workers from accessing the depot. The search uncovered a number of unpaid invoices and the search continues.

“One unpaid invoice worth over R16 million was found at the medical depot drawer. The department can confirm that all the invoices will be verified before payment being processed,” Sambatha said.

He added that the non-payment of suppliers affected his department because they were unable to get enough supply of medicine from the same companies. Sambatha said there were people who were employed by the government to process those invoices, but they failed dismay to perform their duties.

“This technically leads to unavailability of medicine in the medical depot. The raid now provides the management of the department to work out a plan on how to catch up with the payment of suppliers. This will lead to improved availability of medicine which will then be delivered to clinics and hospitals where they are needed the most.

“It breaks my heart to know that there are people in the department who decided to withhold payment of medicine, which should be assisting our parents, family members, and communities at large. It is treasonous and the situation has to be corrected,” he said.

Sambatha further said when the administration team arrived at the department back in 2018, the stock level of essential medicine was at 64% and it was improved to around 85% through intervention. However, he said the level started dropping at the beginning of the year and some companies stopped delivering medicine in March 2020 citing non-payment.

“The stock levels did not change despite money being made available in April 2020. The department then got technical assistance to speed up payment of suppliers. Through that intervention, it has come to the attention of the department that a number of invoices are missing.

“We have also noted that whenever a decision is made to correct the situation at the medical depot, an anonymous letter always surfaces. We will know the identity of the author and address the matter at an appropriate platform,” he said.

Meanwhile, four managers at the medical depot and the provincial office in Mahikeng respectively have since been put on precautionary suspension following alleged mismanagement involving expired medication, depot, and staff. He said a plan to improve delivery timelines and turnaround is in place.

“It involves direct deliveries of medication to hospitals while the medical depot will now deliver directly to clinics,” said Sambatha.

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