More than three years after government suspended senior Ministry of Health officials to make way for the Funduzi audit into the drugs shortage crisis, taxpayers continue to finance one of the most expensive unresolved disciplinary processes.
A Sunday Observer analysis has found that more than E9 million has already been spent paying six suspended officials while they remained out of office pending the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings.
That figure represents only the direct salary bill, as it excludes the cost of remunerating acting officials to perform the functions of the suspended ones, legal expenses arising from ongoing disciplinary proceedings as the State has enlisted services of South African advocates, and the over E4 million already paid to Funduzi for the forensic investigations.
The officials were suspended between April and November 2023 after Auditor-General Timothy Matsebula’s office commissioned Funduzi Forensic Services to investigate the alleged irregularities in the procurement, payment, storage and distribution of medicines supplied to public health facilities, barely two months after the company had been incorporated.
Suspensions
Three years later, however, the disciplinary processes remain unresolved and government has continued paying the officials throughout their suspensions while also appointing acting officers to perform many of their responsibilities.
The issue came into focus this week when Funduzi appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to present findings from its second forensic investigation. Deputy PAC Chairperson Manzi Zwane argued that government should stop paying officials who have remained on suspension for years.
“Those who are suspended, let’s stop their salaries. We are not getting any service. There is no service that we are getting,” Zwane told the committee.
“We are busy paying people without a service. If we pay for the service, why should we not cut? They are suspended and it seems like the ministry is scared of something,” he added.
He further argued that the prolonged suspensions amounted to wasteful expenditure because government was paying both the suspended officials and those acting in their positions.
“This is wasteful expenditure because government also has to pay those who are acting, which means government is paying twice,” he said.
In response, PAC Chairperson Madala Mhlanga urged the Ministry of Health to engage the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to find a way of resolving the long-running disciplinary matters.
“I say the controlling officer must meet with the CSC,” Mhlanga stated.
An independent analysis by the Sunday Observer of government salary scales and the officials’ suspension periods shows that taxpayers have paid approximately E9 000 264 in salaries to the six officials between the dates of their suspension and the end of June this year.
The largest individual salary payments went to Assistant Director of Central Medical Stores (CMS) Themba Motsa and former Principal Procurement Officer Sincedile Dlamini-Magwaza, who are both on the F1 salary scale.
Motsa has remained on suspension since April 2023. Based on government salary scales, he received an annual salary of E477 046 until the civil service salary adjustment implemented in October 2025 increased his annual remuneration to E752 102.
Over the course of his suspension, government paid him approximately E1 756 692.
The unabridged Funduzi report, which is yet to be tabled in Parliament despite having circulated among some politicians, alleges that Assistant Director of Central Medical Stores Themba Motsa has a case to answer over a series of procurement decisions that investigators say caused substantial financial prejudice to government.
Among its findings, the report alleges that Motsa, together with Pharmacists Pholile Maphalala and Yoliswa Zwane and Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services Fortunate Bhembe, allowed or facilitated the procurement of medicines far in excess of demand, resulting in drugs expiring and what investigators describe as fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Separately, the report states that Motsa, together with the then Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane and the Accountant General, has a case to answer over the alleged duplicate payment of approximately E68 million to AvaPharm.
It further alleges that the same three officials have a case to answer over the payment of E9 million to AvaPharm for Remdesivir that investigators contend had already been donated to government as trial stock.
Dlamini-Magwaza, who was suspended at the same time and is on the same salary scale, likewise received approximately E1 756 692 while remaining on suspension.
The unabridged Funduzi report alleges that she has a case to answer over alleged collusion with suppliers, receiving gratification and cash incentives from suppliers, and facilitating improper or irregular payments.
Deputy Director of Pharmaceutical Services Fortunate Bhembe was suspended later, in November 2023. Unlike Motsa and Dlamini-Magwaza, Bhembe is remunerated on the F2 salary scale.
Her previous annual salary was E577 871, before increasing to E831 021 following the October 2025 salary adjustment.
Taking into account her later suspension date, government paid Bhembe approximately E1 730 852 between November 2023 and the end of June 2026.
The Funduzi report makes various allegations against her concerning procurement oversight and management decisions within pharmaceutical services. She has challenged aspects of the investigation through the courts together with Dlamini-Magwaza and those matters remain unresolved.
The remaining three officials account for a further E3.76 million in salary payments during their suspensions.
Senior Procurement Officer Thabani Dlamini and Senior Pharmacist Pholile Maphalala, both remunerated on salary scale E3 and suspended in April 2023, each received approximately E1 303 948 while remaining on suspension.
Taken together, the six officials received just over E9 million despite not performing their substantive duties during the period.
The position of Senior Procurement Officer Thabani Dlamini differs from those of the other officials.
Unlike the others, his suspension continued despite the disciplinary charges against him having been withdrawn nearly two years ago.
Dlamini had been accused of negligence after allegedly failing to report what government described as collusion involving the acceptance of medicines with shelf lives shorter than the prescribed 18-month standard.
He was further accused of allowing or facilitating the acceptance of medicines with short shelf lives between 2020 and 2022, conduct which disciplinary documents alleged resulted in fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to E83 082 520.66.
However, all disciplinary charges against him were withdrawn on October 1, 2024. Despite that development, Dlamini remained on suspension and continued receiving his salary.
Maphalala, who was suspended at the same time as Dlamini, also remains out of office while continuing to receive her salary.
Pharmacist Yoliswa Zwane, who was suspended in April 2023 and is employed on salary scale E2, received approximately E1 148 133 over the period.
Zwane was also suspended in April 2023. The forensic report alleges that she was involved in accepting medicines with shelf lives shorter than the ministry’s prescribed minimum and in procurement transactions questioned by investigators.
Those allegations have not yet been tested to a final determination in disciplinary proceedings.
Responding on behalf of the Ministry of Health to the Nhlambeni MP’s concerns, Principal Secretary Khanya Mabuza said decisions regarding the continued payment of suspended officials did not rest with the ministry alone.
“As a ministry, ours is for the matter to finish,” Mabuza told MPs.
“There are other aspects of government that should answer because we know the structures and functions of different ministries, so we should hear from those responsible because this is not a decision the ministry can take alone,” he stated.
The Office of the Auditor-General has declined to disclose how much Funduzi has been paid for its second forensic investigation.
Despite the over E13 million expenditure from the direct salaries and the costs of Funduzi’s investigation, the country’s medicine crisis has persisted, disciplinary cases remain unresolved more than three years later and no final determination has been made regarding many of the allegations that prompted the suspensions.
As the PAC argued this week, taxpayers have continued paying for investigations whose consequences remain unresolved, salaries for officials who have remained out of office for years and the cost of acting replacements, all while public health facilities continue to grapple with periodic shortages of essential medicines.
