The controversial suspension of one of the North West province's senior clinicians two weeks ago has been lifted, with Professor Ebrahim Variava returning to his post as head of internal medicine at the Klerksdorp Tshepong Hospital on 29 June.
The U-turn on the precautionary suspension by Polaki Mokatsane, the North West Deputy Director-General of Hospitals and Clinical Support Services, on 15 June, comes after outrage and public petitioning by Variava's colleagues.
Professor Neil Martinson, chief executive director of the Perinatal Research Unit at Wits, who drew up a petition calling for the withdrawal of Variava's suspension, said Variava's return to work will restore much needed capacity for fighting Covid-19 in the North West.
One is that Prof Variava's case got attention because it is high-profile and he had a lot of support, but we've heard about other high-handed suspensions in the province that have not been resolved for months and years," Martinson said.
Martinson added that questions remain over the manner in which Variava was suspended, including that the suspension came without warning, was made a day before a public holiday and that additional charges were made against him via the department's Twitter account two days later.
