Digital Vibes: Dr Nicholas Crisp appointed Health Department acting DG

The Department of Health’s Dr Nicholas Crisp has been appointed as its acting Director-General.

Crisp, the department’s Deputy Director-General for the National Health Insurance (NHI) has played a critical role in the department – as it presides over the country’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the vaccination roll-out.

The department’s DG Dr Sandile Buthelezi has reportedly been placed on leave and has been asked to answer questions in relation to his role in the Digital Vibes scandal.

The company has was irregularly awarded a multimillion rand contract by the DOH and was run by two associates of former minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, who resigned in the wake of the scandal.

Health Director-General’s suspension ‘imminent’

Several officials have been implicated in the saga, however the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) which probed the contract, said it could not disclose the names. Its report on it has already been handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa. It isn’t yet clear, but has been reported that Dr Sandile Buthelezi’s suspension from the department is imminent.

“The country has no shortage of vaccines. Now we are vaccinating about 250,000 a day, and I hope that it stay that way, not just during the 10 days that I will be acting as DG, but until Christmas, so that people are able to move on with their lives. We will keep on pushing the vaccination programme so that we can vaccinate as many people as possible,” Crisp told Business Day on Thursday, also confirming his appointment.

The Presidency confirmed earlier this week that Ramaphosa was mulling over it and has started contacting implicated individuals.

“In the interests of fairness and in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act,  and as a result of a number of applications to have sight of the report, the presidency has sent third-party notices to all people or entities referred to in the report, so they may have an opportunity to object to its publication or part thereof,” his office said.