By Johnathan Paoli
The DA in Gauteng on Tuesday called for an urgent independent investigation into Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital’s cardiothoracic unit, alleging poor surgical outcomes, governance failures, and a possible cover-up.
At a press briefing, DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said the situation in the unit amounted to a “surgical disaster”.
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“My assessment is that there is a disgraceful cover-up by both Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital and Wits Medical School. According to my sources, the actual heart surgery mortality rate at Charlotte Maxeke is approximately 20%, which is a catastrophic failure. Overseas, mortality rates exceeding 2 to 3% would immediately trigger a formal inquiry,” Bloom said.
Bloom said his allegations of a possible cover-up stemmed from a letter he received from an anonymous senior cardiothoracic surgeon who resigned in October last year in protest.
Bloom said that he had written to Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko demanding disclosure of the “real surgery fatality rate”, and had also referred the matter to Health Ombud Taole Mokoena “for urgent and independent investigation”.
He said his concerns were triggered by a “deliberately misleading reply” to questions posed in the Gauteng legislature.
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According to Bloom, a written response from the provincial health department said the hospital recorded a 72.5% decrease in mortality between 2023 and 2025, maintaining that there was no evidence of foul play.
“A commission of inquiry has not been established because the available data dos not indicate an abnormal or rising mortality trend that would warrant such an intervention. These results show a marked improvement in patient outcomes, with no evidence of systemic failure or elevated risk that would necessitate a formal commission of inquiry,” the response stated.
The response, according to Bloom, was signed by Nkomo-Ralehoko, acting HOD Dr Darion Barclay and acting COO Dr Percy Mkhulu Selepe.
Bloom said those claims were contradicted by the senior surgeon’s allegations of malpractice and mismanagement.
In his resignation letter, the unnamed surgeon cited persistently poor surgical outcomes, a severely compromised training environment, a breakdown in engagement with hospital authorities, and the intimidation of junior doctors.
“The continued refusal to establish a commission of inquiry raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability. This reluctance risks conveying the impression of a deliberate cover-up, further undermining trust in the integrity of our academic and clinical institutions,” the surgeon wrote.
The surgeon described his departure as a principled protest against a system that “has failed its clinicians, its trainees, and its patients”.
The surgeon called for the suspension of the head of cardiothoracic surgery, Dr Tumi Taunyane, following grievances raised by registrars, including allegations of intimidation, lack of academic leadership and misconduct.
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According to Bloom, registrars formally appealed to the Dean of the University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Shabir Madhi, for urgent intervention, but were ignored.
Bloom said the health department had denied receiving formal complaints against Taunyane.
However, Bloom said the department acknowledged concerns raised by the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, about “significant dysfunction as a result of a breakdown in relationships among several staff members, including registrars”, which could impact patient care, surgical services, theatre safety and clinical training.
Bloom also said there had been a sharp decline in the number of heart surgeries performed annually, from several hundred to about 200.
“This decline allows officials to claim fewer deaths, while the reality is that many critically ill patients are not receiving life-saving surgery at all,” he said.
Bloom said proposals to partner with the private sector for training had been rejected for unexplained reasons.
The hospital had previously highlighted advancements in its cardiac services, including the introduction of the MitraClip procedure, a minimally invasive treatment for mitral regurgitation, which was described as a “game-changer” for high-risk patients.
At the time, Nkomo-Ralehoko said the procedure was an example of the many inroads the health department had made in the healthcare system through collaboration between the public and private sectors.
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The DA, however, said that systemic failures in the cardiothoracic unit risked undermining such progress.
“Patients deserve the best quality care and we aim to ensure that any problems there are, are uncovered and fixed, because we cannot have a situation where people are dying because of bad management and other factors,” Bloom said.
Charlotte Maxeke hospital and the provincial health department had not responded to questions from Inside Metros at the time of publication.