Businesslive reports that sick leave applications for staff in Gauteng state hospitals have risen "alarmingly"‚ from R161m paid to 3‚244 employees in 2014 to R312m paid to 5‚882 employees last year.  

This was revealed by Gauteng health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa in a written reply to questions in the Gauteng legislature.  She said:  "Short temporary incapacity applications are the highest applications applied for‚ but the long temporary incapacity leave applications constituted the highest amount paid during the management of incapacity leave in 2017."  There were 442 cases of long-term incapacity in 2017‚ for which R15.3m was paid out‚ compared to 411 cases that cost R1.2m in 2014.  Nurses were the source of most sick leave applications.  Jack Bloom‚ Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow MEC for health in the Gauteng provincial legislature expressed his concern at the unexplained jump in sick leave by hospital staff.

• Read this report in full at BusinessLive

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