Moroke Sekoboto
THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has blasted Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) management for “illegally” appointing Tšele Sehlabo as Senior Finance Manager, ahead of a more deserving Hlasa Hlasa.
In earlier interviews for the post of Finance Manager, Mr Hlasa had outperformed Mr Sehlabo.
PAC argues, therefore, that Mr Hlasa should have been the one promoted to the Senior Finance Manager position, instead of Mr Sehlabo.
PAC further alleges that Mr Sehlabo, who was the Finance Manager responsible for QMMH filter clinics, had even joined the hospital later than Mr Hlasa without following a transparent recruitment process.
QMMH management appeared before PAC this week to answer questions regarding the administration of the country’s top referral hospital.
The hospital’s Deputy Managing Director of Human Capital, Planning and Contracts, Thenjiwe Dlangamandla, told the committee that Mr Hlasa had originally been appointed as Finance Manager, reporting to then Senior Financial Manager, ’Maphakisane Sekatle.
Ms Dlangamandla said when the Tšepong Consortium exited QMMH in 2021, the health facility created an additional Finance Manager position for the filter clinics, and Mr Sehlabo, who had come second to Mr Hlasa in the interviews, was appointed to that role.
She further revealed that when Ms Sekatle later resigned as Senior Financial Manager, QMMH decided to fill the vacant senior role internally.
The hospital then appointed Mr Sehlabo as Senior Finance Manager, despite Mr Hlasa having been with QMMH longer.
Ms Dlangamandla defended this decision, saying Mr Hlasa had an internal auditing background and that the internal audit manager position was also vacant. She said QMMH “internally filled” that post with Mr Hlasa.
“We have two Finance Managers, one for the hospital and one for the clinics, and both report to the Senior Financial Manager, who then reports to the Managing Director. When the Senior Financial Manager resigned, we filled the position internally. We also had a vacancy in Internal Audit,” Ms Dlangamandla said.
“Mr Sehlabo didn’t have any background in internal auditing, so we recommended that he fill the Senior Finance Manager position and recommended Mr Hlasa for Internal Audit Manager since he had auditing experience.”
However, this explanation failed to convince PAC members, who accused Ms Dlangamandla of creating the Internal Audit Manager post to sideline Mr Hlasa and unlawfully elevate Mr Sehlabo without advertising the vacancy or consulting Mr Hlasa.
PAC Chairperson, Machabana Lemphane-Letsie, accused Ms Dlangamandla of deliberately manoeuvring to have Mr Sehlabo appointed as Senior Finance Manager, despite his qualifications allegedly not meeting the requirements, which included a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management or a Postgraduate Degree in the same field. She said Mr Sehlabo was merely a General Accountant —“which was not the requirement”.
Ms Lemphane-Letsie further alleged that Ms Dlangamandla “created” the internal audit manager position to remove Mr Hlasa from contention for the senior finance manager’s role, even though he had performed better in the interviews.
“You said Mr Hlasa was recruited because he had better points during the Finance Manager interviews. How do you explain that Mr Sehlabo is now the Senior Finance Manager ahead of him?
“Today we have ghost workers, which shows that you planned Mr Sehlabo’s appointment to facilitate corruption.
“Mr Hlasa wanted the Senior Finance Manager position, but you conveniently created the Internal Audit Manager post to remove him from that opportunity, despite him scoring more points than Mr Sehlabo. Because Mr Sehlabo is now in the higher position, it is clear you devised a way to place him there regardless of the requirements.
“The worst part is that you didn’t even advertise the post — not internally, not externally. You didn’t advertise because you already had your preferred candidate. You denied others, including Mr Hlasa, the chance to apply. You forced him into the audit unit. You created a position for Mr Sehlabo at the filter clinic and then another at QMMH by redeploying and promoting him.”
PAC member Dr Tšeliso Moroke also accused Ms Dlangamandla of attempting to create ghost workers. He said Mr Hlasa had resisted being pushed into the Internal Audit Unit and had even instructed lawyers — forcing QMMH to later “level up” both positions.
Dr Moroke questioned the legitimacy of Mr Sehlabo’s appointment, saying there were no recruitment steps, no minutes supporting his promotion, and no evidence of how he had formally entered the QMMH system.
“Do you remember that Mr Hlasa engaged lawyers when you took his Finance Manager job? This is where we see ghost workers linked to Mr Sehlabo. You wanted him to run and create those ghost workers. Why would you assemble a team around someone who was hired unfairly, with no documents showing how he was recruited?
“You hired him illegally — and now we have a ghost worker problem. How do you promote a person who is not in the system? We remember when Mr Hlasa joined the QMMH system.
“When did Mr Sehlabo enter? You cannot promote someone who does not exist in the system. Which vacancy advert brought him in? How did he become part of QMMH without following recruitment processes?”
“You entered a ghost worker into the QMMH system. This is the first one — as you know, we are still looking for them,” Dr Moroke said.
