INLSA
KwaZulu-Natal’s legislative assembly building in the provincial capital, Pietermaritzburg.
Changes to the rules on who can have a chauffeur in the provincial government are on hold while the province’s bosses debate grey areas in the policy, including if a traditional healer diagnosis was acceptable proof that someone could not drive.
While there is a policy that states who and when a member of the provincial legislature may use a driver, there are loopholes and the perk is being abused at taxpayers’ expense. Earlier this year it emerged that a third of members were chauffeur-driven at a cost of R3 million a year.
The DA’s chief whip in the legislature, Radley Keys, said the reviewed policy with the new rules had not been approved at a rules committee meeting earlier this month because some of the members demanded that a traditional healer’s diagnosis be recognised as a medically qualified opinion.
This was angrily dismissed by Deputy Speaker Mtolephi Mthimkulu who said no-one had made this demand. The policy had been referred to caucus leaders because two “grey areas” had been identified.
“We realised the policy was silent on the issue that an applying member must submit a detailed report of ailments to the whips forum. We wanted to be sure that we are not breaking the law when it comes to |patient/doctor confidentiality. It was also silent on traditional health practitioners,” he said.
Mthimkulu added that the review committee wanted all parties to pronounce on these grey areas and give their input.
Keys said the DA considered the demand to recognise traditional healer’s certificates as a “delaying tactic aimed at blocking the removal of privileges obtained through the back door”. He said the amended rules were crafted to recognise that when a member was genuinely not capable of driving themselves, the required assistance would be provided.
“To introduce an opinion that requires a physiological assessment without that source being medically recognised is both mischievous and undermines the integrity of our provincial parliament,” he said.
He added that the changes had been supported by the DA.
The national co-ordinator of the Traditional Healers’ Organisation, Phephisile Maseko, said the Traditional Health Practitioners’ Act of 2007 allowed authentic traditional health practitioners to issue sick notes. In this case each note had to be dealt with on its own merits, she said.
“Why is the traditional health practitioner saying he is unfit to drive? Is it because the person is disabled… it would then need to be determined if that practitioner has competency in that discipline,” she said, adding that there were specialist practitioners able to make this diagnosis.
