A Hushed-up Settlement

0:00Let's move the discussion, right? The DA has accused the Houting Health Department of paying a confidential settlement to silence a senior official who was facing disciplinary charges related to the Tembesa Hospital Corruption scandal. You remember, right? The Tembesa Hospital Corruption scandal that lurks the country over copious sum of money, a pot of gold and even more. The party made the explosive allegations that a media briefing in Gilbert yesterday. The party claims that former chief financial officer Lerato Madgio received an undisclosed payment when she left the department in July 2024, despite the department initially stating that she had, in fact, resigned. Online we welcome DA Houting, Shadow ABC for Health, Dr. Jack Blum. Dr. Blum, good morning. Thank you for joining us. Yeah, good morning. Good to be with you. Dr. Blum, you believe, and of course we read a bit of that statement that all indications

1:00are that so-called Hashbadi was paid to protect those implicated in the 2 billion red Tembesa Corruption scandal. Well, look, Lerato Madgio was the chief financial officer that had the beta, the Akaran, confided in about the corruption at the Ibiza Hospital. In fact, Lerato Madgio did nothing about it. She covered it up and I think it should be a chief suspect in who tipped off the person who ultimately murdered the beta, the Akaran, because only a very small number of people knew that the beta, the Akaran was the whistleblower in this matter. But nearly two years ago, the Carving Health Department told us officially that Lerato Madgio had resigned. Now I asked a question about whether she really had resigned, and now they've disclosed. No, there was a negotiated agreement. She walked off with her pension and an undisclosed monetary sum. Now to me, that looks like a golden handshake quite frankly.

2:01They should have completed the disciplinary action against her. She was facing 13 misconduct charges. They should have completed it. I think they would have found the guilty and she would have left without any benefits. Meanwhile, the state has now paid her probably a large amount of money. And then she's got free, so I think it's a cover-up. I think they're large to us that she had resigned, and the VA is going to leave no stone on turn to get hold of the so-called confidential agreement, so that we know the truth about what she was paid. Dr Bloom, if this matter was raised by the party itself, what answer did you receive from the Houting Health MEC in regards to this query that was raised? Well, they had to admit that there was a negotiated settlement. They claimed that there are no regularities, but I usually doubt it. Then I asked if they had informed the Premier's office, and they said they had informed

3:02the Premier's office. Now, the Premier has issued a statement saying, oh, they were only informed about this off-twids and asked to give the approval, but they didn't give their approval. So, obviously, the Premier's office was concerned about this agreement, and now the Premier says, oh, they've appointed a legal firm to examine this agreement to see if everything was proper. Well, it's 20 months since she left, and we only hear about this investigation. Now, I think they're scrambling to make excuses for what really happened. So, we're going to practice further when was this legal firm appointed? It's 20 months later, why haven't they come to any conclusion? We think that they appointed this firm just because I exposed it to the third place. So, I think there's a cover-up, and I think there's political protection, and I think that we need to make sure everybody who has implicated the murder will be to the background of the duty of 2 billion ran from to be the hospital needs to be charged and appear in court. Finally, Dr Bloom, I mean, the way forward, we understand the DA plans to challenge the

4:06legality of the settlement, arguing it may contribute the Public Finance Management Act. What's the way forward in your period here, Dr Bloom? Well, we need to get hold of this copy of the agreement, so they can't keep the confidential and the public interest. They've been court cases that it can be made public, so I've asked the halting leaders such an oversight committee to make sure that the halting health department engages with us on this. And we're also going to put in a pie application to get this document. We will use all of the news to make sure that there's justice in this case that we found out what was agreed, and we think it's a regular and that the money should be recovered. Dr. Jack Bloom, thank you for this brief conversation this morning, and keeping us updated of matters coming out of your office, and indeed a significant breakthrough indeed at what hopes for justice for all, especially Babita Dio-Karada and her family. Thank you for your time, Dr Bloom. Thank you. Yeah, you know what, the DA accusing halting, halting health department of paying a confidential

5:11settlement. Now, this was on the back of you'd recall in 2024, the former chief financial officer, Lerato Mario, resigned, and this was a very key time in the Tabisa Hospital allegation. You'd recall two billion reds went missing, and it's still to be recovered exactly way it's gone. Although we have an idea of exactly where it is gone, it's still in the country and it might be in the hands of the possessions of a few, but the reality is is that how close are is the government from now implicating those responsible in the Tabisa corruption case, there are no closer than what they had been from the time it had been uncovered. And part of that was that where the chief financial officer who would have been responsible for this entire two billion red debacle, it's not possible. You see, one thing is in a hospital, you know what, a bandage goes missing, a bottle of

6:11panados goes missing, what, dappies, a pack of dappies goes missing, one can understand the people very likely implicated are those at the lower rank of the operation. But where you have, over a short period of time, whether it's five to ten years, two billion red go missing, then it's obviously not the security guard, it's not the nurse or duty, it's not your receptionist, it's somewhere right on top. And that would be to be answered by or to your chief financial officer who signs off on these transactions, you are signing off on a fraudulent transaction, you are signing off on something that will compromise the institution in a big way, not only the institution in this instance here, but the entire country, because that two billion red is to serve the poorest of the poor in the country, everybody for that matter. And hence, you know what, at least this has been aired or brought out to the four in some way. We Allah the la grant, you know, one of the doors that we make in the course of the month

7:14of Ramadan, that we Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala red, corruption from this world, our country and grant, you know what, grant salvation, he died and guidance to all those at the top of the bottom of the land itself, as good qualities, as much appreciative people are of, you know, what leadership has done in the past and even in the present, this here is untenable. When it comes to corruption, it is an untenable situation that there is no condoning, no matter how many flags you fly or how many slogans of support you give to this cause or that cause, there is no condoning corruption and the results thereof that compromise the lives of the poorest of the poor and enrich those who are right on the top. This is plenty and the upcoming election will in fact, one estimates or, I know some people may even say hopes give a loud and a bold and a clear message to the ruling party that if it's not going to stop this year, 2026, then this definitely is going to be the

8:17end and I'm sure many in the voting community would think and behave in the same way. More important and pressing matters of course for us in the course of the month of Ramadan, Aisha radi Allah what I says, kultwai said ya Rasulallah, there are messenger of Allah, a raiteh, that tell me inform me in alim tu, that if I know which night laylatul qadar falls ma'aqulu fi'ha, what will I say in that month or in that evening or in that night? Rasulullah says, the teacher's Aisha radi Allah what I want, they're very simple doah, everybody can memorize even a five or a six year old, you know, a dude practicing or a 70 year old, no doubt can, can learn it off for the odd nights in particular. Allahumma inda qa'afu'ud, to habbul a'fa fa'afu'uddi, Allahumma inda qa'afu'ud, that awallah you are all forgiving, to habbul a'fa you love forgiveness, fa'afu'uddi so forgive me, 7 a.m you're listening to Sabah al-Muslim, right here on Radio Islam International, heading towards the 23rd night of the

9:18bant of Ramadan, I'll be back in a while after the half hour news headlines to continue our discussion. News headlines, a blitz of what's current on Radio Islam International. Questions are raised about who will take orders from, who soldiers, how police fight crime, the portfolio committee on police, chair and camera and says they want clarity on the operations scope and mandate, camera and said that the recent joint standing committee on defense meeting at the SA&DF indicated that they would not take instructions from the South African police service. A joint standing committee on the fence meeting also at parliament, whether the SA&DF indicated that they would not take instructions from the South African police service. Now this is hugely problematic because that means that we now have soldiers doing police

10:18work without the police, obviously they're not trained for that etc, but it was very clear that there's a massive gap in communication between both the South African police service and the SA&DF and we then indicated that we needed joint meeting between the police portfolio committee and the joint standing committee on the fence. That hasn't happened yet, the later to schedule that only went off yesterday or today. No more than too many people in the Gaza Strap are struggling to protect their health as they left near piles of trash mixed with dirt in debris across the enclave with limited resources to clear what they were, what were one's vibrant, densely populated, it is filled with pastling markets. Since their fragile ceasefire began last October, conflict in the region has calmed, but much of the territory remains in ruins with no clear timeline for reconstruction, local municipalities in the United Nations Development Programme of the UNDP have been leading efforts to clear out the waste and debris. But limited resources are available, UNDP Administrator Alexander the Cruces, UNDP teams on the ground need access to clear the

11:21piles of garbage across the Gaza Strap. UK Prime Minister Kistama has warned off reputation of risk if he appointed Peter Mendelssohn as British Ambassador to the United States because of his close links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Newly released documents show but chose to pick Mendelssohn for the role anyway. Yesterday more than 100 pages of documents covering the process of Mendelssohn's appointment were published by the British Government. Mendelssohn has vetted political operator who has worked with several generations of Labour party leaders, is currently under police investigation for allegedly leaking government documents to Epstein. The documents were released following pressure from the opposition conservative party in generally files released by the United States Department of Justice, included emails that suggested Mendelssohn had secret documents containing the government's straight plans to Epstein, including during the 2008 financial crash crash. From the news, just call it Islam Salam alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Views, news, reviews, interviews, all on your favourite learning station,

12:23Radio Islam International. This is an easy sabah al muslim. The foreign force South Africa or Fosa has called on President Sir Ramaphosa to urgently prioritize the preparedness and strengthening of the country's defence capabilities amid rising global tensions. Now, what is being referred to, of course, is the snatching of President Maduro, you know, what a few months back, as well as now currently the ongoing U.S. Israeli-led campaign against Iran. There have been other talks, I mean, the U.S. being the the the the Hedgeman, this particular time that we are living in, and their talks of taking Greenland over from Denmark, which I don't think President Donald Trump has has forgotten about. The organization also urged the President to review leadership within the defence

13:24establishment, including the position currently held by Defence Minister Ajima Chekham, Tobago Bani is the Fosa National Leader. Tobago, good morning. Thank you for joining us. No, good morning, and thank you for leaving us. Tobago, talk to us why the call on the President to urgently prioritize the preparedness and strengthening of the country's defence capabilities? Look, our call stems from the fact that we have alliances. African countries have alliances with the West, with the U.S., and so forth. And then when you look, you study the time to begin to see that most of African countries are aligned to these countries that are also involved, and then others are aligned to the left, others are aligned to the right, but in the same Africa. So now, if that becomes the issue, and then the left thing, we are going to attack you because you are aligned to the right.

14:27So it's going to affect all of us in the global south, because now I have a particular example. So Africa is also aligned with Iran, and then it has a poor relationship currently with America, and also a direct relationship with Israel. And then you look at China, it has relationship with the other side, the U.S., and the Israel. And you look at Botswana, it has a relationship with the U.S., and Israel. Even the American base, it has been said, it is in Botswana. So now, when America, because America is a police, once they fail to defeat Iran, they would look for a weakest link, and the weakest link, it has to be in Africa. And then, Africa is one in a threat, because America is very clear. Even the Ambassador last week, he said it's very clear that we gave Africa five things to address and to respond. South Africa today does not respond. That is the front on its own, and one being that South Africa

15:29must not align to anyone. So it must just be a country that is neutral. And then that cannot be said, when America has its own alliances, America is aligned to Israel, but South Africa is not allowed to align with China partners, that you are also trading. So that becomes a problem. So the threat comes from there, because should the left say we are now going to attack the opposite alliances, is going to come to other South Africa, already have been affected by the issue of Iran, because of the crude oil, oil is expensive, and then it also affected our fuel. So one can begin to see that if we are going to retaliate, that can come across to the country. So that is why we are saying, we cannot even speak too much when we know that we don't have a defense in the country. Why are we saying so? The head of our defense cannot be able to play a proper

16:30oversight, because he has not proved of what is happening in the military department. That is why you hear of corruption there, you hear of malattentration, you hear of financial mismanagement, because the head does not understand what must happen. And once the head does not understand, it means everybody is going to do as they please. And then if they do as they please, that becomes the problem. Second, the issue of the resources, we like the resources, almost all the departments actually, they say we have a problem in our departments, in the defense. And if they listen to them, no, if they call them to other, they present a frown when some of the kicked in to a saying, but what a problem here. And then if you continue like this, we are going to be a head. We are only new South African, that we are in a danger. This happened last year. And then three, four generals spoke after that. And then nothing to be the second. That is the right to discount.

17:34You know, Timocho, you raised a question in the issue of, of course, our defense minister. You're also calling for that a more experienced person, a person who is, you know, knows warfare, who knows the military should be in that position. Noting that South Africa's military is not in the healthiest condition that it has been, that there's a lot of work to be done to upgrade and to ensure that we have an effective military. And that starts off with the leadership on top Timocho. Look, our defense is not in good shape, but to be in good shape, you will need a good commander. If the commander is not a good one, the shape will continue to be disrupted. And that is what we have to be. If you want to shape the defense, you need to look at the generals and take a general and put them there. And then a general will be able to know what must happen. Because we are dealing now in defense, which is

18:38sophisticated tactics. We are dealing with technological specifications. So now when you take somebody who will think, you just pick up a rifle and start shooting, then you are in the room and you have no knowledge. So that we need somebody who will understand this, somebody who has been in the field, somebody who has been in the office, strategizing, we need that type of experience. Not somebody who was up on the time was outside of the country holding a gun and holding a gun does not make you a soldier. We can all hold gun, but you're not soldiers. And then you can wear the camouflage clothes, that does not make your soldier. And then we cannot take that experience. We're talking here of experience. When people went to the field, they started shooting each other and they started to kill each other, defending the sovereignty of the country. So we need a general to take over the South African defense force if we want to put in shape. Finally, Timohu, I mean, is it time that young people undergo a year of training as part of the South African National Defense Force? I know

19:43many countries, South Africa, in apartheid days, had that system of you joining the military, was it for two years for males or something of that sort? Other countries do have that system as well. Is this the way to go that if not joining the full S.A. N.D.F. to join some parts of the army for you to get disciplined and trained, get off the streets and learn how to defend your country? Is it time that South Africa goes in that direction in your opinion, Timohu? Look, if Masha's apartheid was better, but not everything was better. They were good things that you could have taken from apartheid. They just shared this to the country. It is embarrassing that you'll see a special black who cannot go to war, who cannot operate guns. We not say that Masha apartheid guns can shoot each other, but you look at the other side, you look at the white, they can operate guns. S.A. N.D.F., they are not scared of it, they can touch it, they train them, and then as they grow, they take licensees and so forth. But when we look into the black side of it,

20:47you look at the black people as scared of objects being done, it takes a threat to them, consciously so. So, and then it does the case. How will those people defend themselves, even if they all come to them and throw guns at them? They will never touch it because they started to be scared of it. So, we are simply saying, the service to the country is not abuse, service to the country must be compensated, because now, after somebody passed the trick, they can go for that one year thing, but now we are saying we understand dynamics can change a little bit. We look at our spirit in the country. It's full of black addicts in the country, and the only way to deal with this people is to take them through distinctly in process, and the addict can do that in terms of disciplining people this. When you take these people for three years, and then you train them there about everything, I can tell you when they come back, they will not want to go there, they will think of the country, the free money that you are giving people, we can always add that money

21:48to the service, and then we say, parent, if you've got a child, who's smoking drugs and so forth in programmatic, let them go to the army for discipline purposes, and then when they go there, they will be taught, psychologically, how to defend the country, they will be taught patriotism, and then once they understand those dynamics, they are able now to change their lives completely, and it will not do that, but here we need a formal setup of discipline, which is the army, and then that will affect us, because many boys and girls are on the street, making them boys on the street, and then they can't even spend and all property, because of their open, Christian, and other blacks. Tiboko was the party of the FOSA, thank you for joining us on behalf of the forum for South Africa, I have a good day ahead of you, and indeed something to think about with regards to the defense of the country, and thank you once again Tiboko. Thank you so much for having us, next time.