Gauteng health never screened thousands of staff working with children for sex offences
· Citizen
The Gauteng Department of Health has admitted it does not routinely screen staff against key child protection registers, leaving tens of thousands of employees in contact with children unchecked, in what critics are describing as a serious failure of legally required safeguards.
Nearly 40 000 health workers have never been checked against sex offender registers
The Gauteng Department of Health employs approximately 39 653 people in critical posts, many of whom have direct or indirect contact with children across the province’s hospitals, clinics, school health programmes and community outreach services.
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Despite the scale of this responsibility, the department confirmed it does not conduct routine vetting against the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) or the National Child Protection Register (NCPR) as part of its standard employment processes.
The admission came in a written reply from Gauteng MEC for Health, Faith Mazibuko, to a question tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) by DA education spokesperson Michael Waters, MPL.
Waters has since raised the alarm publicly, calling the situation a direct threat to child safety across Gauteng’s public health system.
“These are sick children in hospital wards, toddlers in clinic waiting rooms and teenagers receiving school health services, all relying on a system that has not done the most basic checks to protect them from potential predators,” Waters said.
Mazibuko confirmed in her written reply that while the department conducts criminal background checks and standard pre-employment screening, including verification of qualifications, identity, and professional registrations, checks against the NRSO and NCPR are simply not part of routine employment procedures.
What the department does, and doesn’t screen for
The department uses the 360 DOTS vetting verification system for its standard pre-employment checks.
According to Mazibuko’s reply, the system covers Home Affairs verification, financial checks, citizenship verification, social media screening, criminal records, and both school and higher-education qualification verification.
Most of these checks are processed immediately or within 48 to 72 hours.
However, Mazibuko acknowledged the department currently “relies on criminal background checks conducted through the 360 DOTS system” and that “no additional internal vetting or monitoring mechanisms have been implemented beyond this process.”
She further confirmed the department “will develop a system to ensure that all the staff members appointed and will be working with children are vetted in line with the applicable legislation.”
Waters said that the last admission was particularly damning.
“What’s even more alarming is the department’s assertion that it will create a system to ensure that all staff members hired to work with children are screened in line with relevant laws,” he said.
“This is effectively an admission that it currently lacks an adequate system that is compliant with the legislative safeguards designed to protect children.”
At the time of the response, only three individuals at Tembisa Hospital were actively undergoing vetting, with results expected within 72 hours.
The department stated there are currently no delays or backlog in its vetting process, though critics argue the absence of a backlog is less reassuring when full child protection screening was never part of the system to begin with.
Laws designed to protect children not properly implemented
The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 both impose legal obligations on employers to screen individuals working with children against child protection registers.
Mazibuko’s response acknowledges the department’s reliance on HR verification processes and registration with professional bodies, but stops short of confirming full legislative compliance.
“It is unacceptable that in 2026, one of South Africa’s largest provincial departments is effectively admitting that key child protection laws, including the Children’s Act and Sexual Offences Act, are not being properly implemented,” Waters said.
Mazibuko’s reply noted that appointments are not confirmed until the required vetting results are received and that all employees at the department’s crèche are vetted in collaboration with the Department of Social Development.
She added that the institution “will put in measures to ensure all staff, clinical and non-clinical, are vetted by September 2026.” Individuals who do not meet vetting requirements are not recommended for appointment and appointments are declined where screening flags concerns.
DA demands urgent action and a clear compliance timeline
The DA is calling on the Gauteng Department of Health to urgently implement mandatory NRSO and NCPR checks for all staff working with children, conduct a full audit of all child-facing posts, publicly disclose how many employees have never been screened, set a clear compliance timeline and report publicly on corrective action taken.
“The DA is the only party committed to full vetting of all individuals working with children across Gauteng government departments,” Waters said.