Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu has welcomed the Government Employees Medical Scheme’s (GEMS) undertaking to validate the qualifications of an executive.
This comes after media reports alleging that GEMS Corporate Services Chief Officer, Dr Sam Lewatle, held a fraudulent PhD qualification.
In a statement responding to the allegations, GEMS’ Chief Marketing Officer, Dr Phumelela Dhlomo, confirmed that Dr Lewatle did not hold a PhD qualification and clarified that the same was not a requirement for the position held by Dr Lewatle.
Dr Dhlomo further mentioned that a number of allegations had been made in respect of the qualifications of the Scheme’s Executive Committee members.
Mchunu said, in order to investigate the veracity of the allegations made, GEMS has since appointed an independent law firm to verify and confirm the validity of the qualifications held by all the Executive Committee members.
“The Minister welcomes the undertakings by the Scheme in the validation of the qualifications and looks forward to receiving the final legal report with the relevant findings.
“As no corruption and misrepresentation of any nature will be tolerated in the public service, the Minister commends the Scheme for its transparency and proactivity in ensuring that the integrity of the Scheme is kept intact,” the Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. – SAnews.gov.za
