The Mpumalanga Department of Health has defended the R2.1-million paid to staff in its research unit, saying the money was not spent on research projects that failed to materialise, but on the salaries of permanent employees carrying out governance, ethics and oversight functions.
The department issued the clarification after Sunday World reported last month that no research studies were conducted during the 2025/26 financial year despite the unit operating on a R2.692-million budget.
The issue first entered the public spotlight after DA lawmakers scrutinised the department’s submissions to the Mpumalanga Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Health and questioned why the research unit had produced no internal studies during the 2025/26 financial year.
DA’s call for probe
The party argued that the discrepancy between the unit’s budget and its reported research output warranted an investigation by the Public Service Commission.
In a detailed statement, the department said the R2.1-million cited in the report represented the approved compensation of employees and not payments for outsourced research, consultants or service providers.
“The R2.1-million referred to in the allegation is not payment for an outsourced research project. It is not a tender, consultancy fee, invoice, or payment to a service provider for a research report. It is the approved Compensation of Employees allocation for permanent officials appointed in approved posts within the department’s research unit,” said provincial department spokesperson Chris Nobela.
Nobela explained that the research unit consists of a director, deputy director and administrative clerk, forming part of the department’s Integrated Health Planning structure.
Public funds ‘not wasted’
While acknowledging that no internal research study was completed during the 2025/26 financial year, the department argued that this should not be interpreted as meaning the unit was inactive or that public funds were wasted.
Instead, Nobela said the office performs a broader research governance function that extends beyond producing internal studies in a single financial year.
According to the department, the unit managed 283 research applications on the National Health Research Database from 2024 to date, providing administrative support to researchers and ensuring compliance with research requirements.
It also served as secretariat to the departmental Research Committee and Research Ethics Committee, both of which held quarterly and interim meetings to consider applications and governance matters.
‘Real, measurable and necessary functions’
The department further said officials physically monitored two clinical research sites in Witbank and Middelburg, tracked progress on active research projects, published a quarterly research review for departmental staff and conducted training on research processes and proposal development.
“These are real, measurable and necessary functions. They cannot be dismissed as ‘nothing’ simply because the Department did not complete an internal research study during the 2025/26 financial year,” Nobela said.
The department also pointed to work completed during the previous financial year, including an internal study on the implementation of the Complaints, Compliments and Suggestions Guidelines, saying the findings informed training for doctors and nurses on complaint management and quality improvement plans.
Looking ahead, the department said it has planned two research studies during the 2026/27 financial year. One will examine operational inefficiencies in public hospitals, while the other will focus on specialist departments in the province to develop evidence-based recommendations aimed at improving hospital efficiency and retaining medical specialists.
The department rejected suggestions from detractors that the salaries constituted fruitless expenditure, saying no competent authority had made such a finding and insisting that public accountability should be based on complete and accurate facts.
“The Department therefore rejects the allegations as unfounded and calls for the public record to reflect the full facts provided to the Legislature,” Nobela said.
- The Mpumalanga Department of Health clarified that the R2.1 million paid to its research unit staff was for salaries of permanent employees handling governance, ethics, and oversight roles, not for failed or uncompleted research projects.
- This response came after reports highlighted no internal research studies were conducted in the 2025/26 financial year despite a R2.692-million budget for the research unit.
- The department emphasized the unit’s broader functions, including managing 283 research applications, supporting researchers, ensuring compliance, and serving as secretariat to key research committees.
- Officials also monitored clinical research sites, tracked active projects, published quarterly reviews, and conducted training, highlighting that these activities are critical and measurable responsibilities.
- Looking forward, the department planned two studies for the 2026/27 year targeting hospital operational inefficiencies and specialist departments, rejecting accusations of fruitless expenditure as unfounded and lacking official investigation findings.
