Media statement at the release of the Report of the Ministerial Task Team: Investigation into the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi
President of the Health Professions Council of South Africa, Dr Kgosi Letlape,
Representatives of Health Associations,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
On Tuesday the 10th of March 2015, I announced to you the appointment of a Ministerial Task Team to investigate allegations of administrative irregularities, mismanagement and poor governance at the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is a statutory body established in terms of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974). This Act was amended in 2007 to give rise to an expanded Health Professions Council with 32 council members, half of which are appointed persons not registered as health professionals in terms of this Act – they are referred to as Community Representatives.
This Council serves 12 Professional Boards, each Board representing a particular Profession within the broader family of Health Professions. The Boards and the Council do not include nurses and pharmacists who have their own Councils – the South African Nursing Council and the South African Pharmacy Council respectively.
The HPCSA is an extremely important structure in the life of the Health Professions of our country. It exerts control over the education, training, registration, and practice of health professions registered under the Act.
It has a very long and rich history. Actually the origins of the regulation of the medical and pharmacy practice in South Africa began in the Cape Province and Natal around the 1890’s.
The colonial Medical Council of the Cape Province was founded in 1891, followed by the Natal Medical Council in 1896. In 1904 the Medical and Pharmacy Council of the Orange River Colony was formed followed immediately by the Transvaal Medical Council in 1905.
These Provincial Councils were consolidated into the South African Medical and Dental Council (SAMDC) and the South African Pharmacy Commission (SAPC) in 1998.
Act 56 of 1974 replaced Act 13 of 1928, in terms of which the SAMDC (South African Medical and Dental Council) existed as a separate legal entity.
In 1995, the Interim National and Dental Council of South Africa was formed through a merger of SAMDC with the Transkei and Ciskei Medical Council Medical Councils. After 5 years of a transitional period, the HPCSA was launched in 2000. In recent days, the HPCSA was accused of poor communication with health professionals, excessive delays in processing applications, registration rules that discriminate against foreign-qualified practitioners from developing countries, and failure to respond meaningfully to questions from the public.
There were also reports of irregularities in the registration of foreign-qualified practitioners, apparent persecution of doctors, and delays in acting against complaints lodged by members of the public.
It was important for me to get to the bottom of all these. Hence I established the Task Team, after consultation with the then President of the Health Professions Council of South Africa, Prof Sam Mokgokong, in March 2015.
The Task Team consisted of:
- Prof Bongani Mayosi: Chairperson - Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town Medical School and Groote Schuur Hospital.He is also the Chairperson of the National Health Research Committee (NHRC). Internationally acclaimed researcher.
- Dr Ralph Mgijima -Former Chairperson of the Public Service Commission (PSC) who also served as Head of the Department of Health in Gauteng Province in 1994
- Dr Nkaki Matlala - General Surgeon, Member of the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA) and Member of the Mediclinic Executive
- Dr Motodi Maserumule - An IT expert at the Centre for the Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
- Dr Mohamed Adam - General Practitioner (GP)
- Dr Luyanda Mtukushe - A Medical and Legal Practitioner who is presently a practising attorney.
The Team was given 60 days to complete the work but as it is, it ended up taking 6 months due to the load of work. The Report they handed to me is actually 90 pages. This Press Statement was prepared from information from the Report but for the purposes of this Press Conference, I will only read the Executive Summary which mercifully consists of only 9 pages. I will only be able to issue out the Executive Summary because the Actual Report is still being scrutinised by the new Council – which was inaugurated only last week.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are other very important aspects relating to other complaints affecting the HPCSA but these did not form part of the mandate of the Ministerial Task Team. They are being carefully worked on in a separate process.
I will make a separate announcement on this on Monday next week.
I wish to take this opportunity to heartily thank the outgone President of the Council, Prof Sam Mokgokong, and his Council, for their hardwork and cooperation during the course of the investigation. I wish them well wherever they are, because I know that some of them have completed their two terms in the Council and were not legible for reappointment. I also wish to thank the incoming Council, under its new President, Dr Kgosi Letlape, for their cooperation, and wish them well in their operations because the job of implementing these recommendations will fall on their shoulders.
Finally, I want to thank Prof Mayosi and his team, for the job welldone.
I thank you!
