By OBAKENG MAJE
5 February 2025- The embattled Taung District Hospital employee, Abednigo Nako, is accused of demanding bribes from individuals who are part of an internship at the hospital. Nako, who is Human Resources Development Officer and responsible for the recruitment process, allegedly demanded R1000 bribe each from 60 individuals who were recruited for the internship.
Some of the individuals who are part of the internship said, they are apprehensive to alert the hospital management because they might be victimised. They alleged that Nako would come and harass them in demand of the money.
One of the alleged victims, who refused to be named for fear of reprisal said: “We are seriously concerned regarding Nako’s behaviour. We fail to understand why he would abuse his power in this manner. We do not get enough out of this internship, but here he is demanding R1000 from each of us every month.
“We urge the hospital to probe the matter and ensure that it addresses it. This is an ethics problem and corruption at its best. Now, we are living in fear because if we refuse to give in, he threatens to take the internship away.”
The North West Department of Health spokesperson, Lucas Mothibedi said even though they have not received any formal complaint regarding allegations, they are in the process of verifying them. Mothibedi said the department would not hesitate in dealing with criminally-minded public servants, irrespective of their stature.
“No formal complaint has been lodged yet. However, we encourage anyone affected to come forward. In the main, a directive has been given to hospital management to look into this matter immediately and provide a report.
“The department shall have a clear stance backed by empirical evidence to move this matter forward. Important to say, we remain committed to run a clean department and allegations as serious as this one are attended to and acted upon,” he said.
Meanwhile, HOSPERSA Branch Secretary in Taung, Morethebe Maruping said they have not received any complaint yet, but if the allegations are true, then the hospital should launch a fully-blown investigation and take harsher punishment against the said individual if found guilty. Maruping said they do not promote misconduct, which in essence is equal to corruption.
The Guardian 