‘Business forum’ members that disrupted KZN health meeting were unhappy about supply chain management processes

The “business forum” that burst into a meeting of high-level KwaZulu-Natal health officials on Thursday took issue with the provincial department’s supply chain management processes.

So said the department in a short statement after reports that officials‚ including head of department Musa Gumede‚ were “held hostage” by the forum at the Natalia building in the Pietermaritzburg city centre.

Gumede said via WhatsApp that he was “fine”.

“The KZN Department of Health wishes to express its concern that a high-level meeting between its senior management and an intervention team from the provincial treasury has been disrupted by a group of people who have identified themselves as members of a business forum‚” the department said in a statement.

The department said that the protesters had “stormed into a boardroom” while the meeting was in session.

“They have since been accommodated and given a platform to raise issues. Police are also present at the meeting. Among the grievances of the business forum is the efficacy of the department’s supply chain management component‚” the statement continued.

It admitted there were challenges with supply chain management in the last financial year‚ but said that the provincial executive had resolved to establish the intervention team‚ which had since been working steadfastly to remedy these challenges.