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Insanity, the dysfunctional Health Professions Council

Email on 15 January 2019 to the Health Professions Council of South Africa Legal Department's Keabetswe Mokwena (see here). 


To: Keabetswe Mokwena 
cc Minister of Health, Chief Clerk Director of Public Prosecutions, Health Ombudsman, HPCSA Ombudsman

Ms Mokwena 

I've not heard from you again by December as promised.

For information, see my blog post here. Suffice it to say, your unaccountable delays – it's been over a year since I laid the complaints with no explanation for them and overall lack of communication – indicates the HPCSA is violating patient rights and health laws you're meant to defend, not transparent and fair to complainants (me), dysfunctional to what extent I don't know, compromised and like Cape Town's DPP, reluctant to prosecute politically sensitive cases as this one is. 

What's one elderly woman's death under suspicious circumstances in a state hospital and the Western Cape government's and premier's adamant refusal to investigate and the premier irregularly inserting herself into the police and DPP "investigation" (but there was no investigation worth the name), right? Similarly, charges against Life Esidimeni doctors are going nowhere.

In this regard the HPCSA is no different to the majority, except possibly auditor-general, of the country's regulatory agencies up to arguably the most important, the world famously (see New York Times, etc) compromised NPA. It's a wonder the country is able to function at all. But we know that beyond the political gloss and spin, it's not.

Please don't respond with disingenuous and dissembling excuses and promises you've no intention of keeping, if you do at all. I don't care. As my posts show (see the other links in the above post about my experiences), it's deja vu as I've experienced both the HPCSA's and DPP's appalling, inept service before in 2002 - 2005, you know, the Hobbs case.

Einstein's definition of insanity is doing something over and over again expecting a different result. Well, the entire South African population must be insane entrusting statutory agencies and government, but what choice do we have. It must take some doing for the HPCSA to be as bad or worse than the NPA/DPP (who can top that!) and government as a whole. 

For the hell of it and hoping it will embarrass you and your colleagues out of their eternal lethargy and disinclination to work and to do their exceedingly well-paid jobs, but not expecting anything really going by their record (except it's an election year, so who knows), I'm copying the ministry of health, health ombudsman, and because it's very nominally still their case, Cape Town DPP which last week sent me a letter about the case I've no intention of taking note of (to be honest, I haven't read it or their previous one so little substance do I place on their flip-flopping, wishy-washy words; by the way, last year I complained to the NDPP and presidency about them), having washed my hands of their amateurish shtick (its true; the case is off, on, off, on, off ... I've stopped trying to keep track where it will land next or what they'll offer thus my filing their letters unread, returning the favour).

As Pieter Dirk-Uys said, and Trevor Noah et al reiterate in their own way, the government writes their scripts for them. Or, who needs comedians when the NPA, regulatory bodies and hubristic politicians display such talents for black comedy in abundance for our entertainment and amusement.

Oh, I'll add this letter onto my blog posts. 

I'd wish you best wishes for the year ahead but on what exactly, I'm not sure. 


Thomas Johnson

Footnote: I received an automated email in reply from Mokwena's mailbox that she had moved to the inspectorate department, but nothing about the status of the case.

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