Health and Wellness
With reference to the reply to questions 7 of 13 June 2025 that stated, “The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness (WCDHW) has not received any official complaints about this practitioner”:
- Given that there is email correspondence between an official from the ASD Inspectorate: Directorate Assurance, Department of Health and Wellness, Western Cape Government, and the South African Nursing Council (SANC) regarding complaints against this nursing practice dating back to September 2024; why did she respond that there had been no complaints about this practitioner;
- the correspondence indicates that there were differing legal opinions between the Department and the SANC over whether the practice and practitioner in question were allowed to continue practicing and considering this, whether her Department has taken any actions to ensure the integrity of the provision of public health services to citizens; if not, why not; if so; which actions have been taken?
(1) While there was correspondence between WCDHW officials and the South African Nursing Council (SANC), this did not constitute the receipt of an official complaint. For a matter to be considered an official complaint, it must be lodged through the prescribed channels either with the WCDHW, where applicable, or with the relevant professional regulatory authority such as SANC. At the time of the previous reply (PQ263), no such official complaint had been lodged with the WCDHW.
(2) As mentioned in the previous reply, the practitioner was operating independently and not for the WCDHW and therefore fell under the jurisdiction of SANC. SANC is the statutory body mandated to investigate and adjudicate complaints against nurses. When concerns were raised with the WCDHW, the concerned party was advised to lodge the matter formally with SANC. In this case, the Department respected SANC’s authority while cooperating as required.
