Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, has distanced himself and his administration from the postponed ‘national day of prayer’ event, which was meant to be held at the Tembisa Hospital on Thursday afternoon.

This comes as scores of South Africans on social media slammed the circulation of a poster, with Lesufi’s image on it,  purporting to be from the provincial government and other concerned members of the community, which called for prayers over the R2 billion looted from the hospital between 2018 to 2022.

Last week, the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) revealed that more than R2 billion of taxpayers’ money was stolen of by corrupt tender syndicates, working in cahoots with Gauteng Department of Health officials and low-level workers at the hospital.

Patricia Lethole, the mother of Shonisani Lethole, a young businessman who died after being starved for over 100 hours at Tembisa Hospital in 2021, slammed the prayer day initiative.

She said no matter how badly prayer is needed, it would never resolve the corruption that contributed to the death of her son.

“What use is the prayer when people have suffered due to the corruption. I was not aware of this prayer meeting, and to think that it was arranged by leaders leaves much to be desired. Maybe they thought that this would cleanse them of their demons, but it will not because we need people to be arrested for the crimes they committed,” she said.

IOL had previously reported that Patricia had strongly condemned the looting that had devastating consequences for her son, who at the time of his death was battling Covid-19 symptoms.

Responding to the postponement of the prayer event on Thursday, Lesufi, through his spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, said the event did not get the blessing from the Premier’s office, which was equally surprised by the use of his image on the poster.

“The Office of the Gauteng Premier has become aware of a poster circulating on social media and other platforms promoting a “Prayer Day” for Tembisa Hospital scheduled for 09 October 2025. “This poster incorrectly features a picture of Premier Panyaza Lesufi, implying his endorsement and attendance. The Office of the Premier wants to categorically state that Premier Lesufi was not aware of the ‘Prayer Day’ session and the event was never part of his schedule of events or activities,” said Mhlanga.

Mhlanga said Lesufi immediately took action as soon as he was made aware of the poster.

“As soon as the Premier became aware of it, he advised the organisers to withdraw the poster and cancel the event. So, the event is no longer happening. Premier Lesufi’s focus remains unequivocally on the urgent work of restoring good governance and public trust in Tembisa Hospital,” he added.

Reacting to the poster, civil society body, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) stated: “A PR campaign and a prayer meeting won’t erase years of fraud and neglect at Tembisa Hospital. Four years later, empty gestures and disingenuous sympathy won’t cut it. Justice is what Tembisa Hospital really needs.”

Mhlanga indicated that Lesufi, ‘like all those concerned about the Tembisa Hospital corruption, would like to see the implementation of the recommendations of the SIU investigative report’. 

“He has reiterated his commitment to ensuring that his office works closely with the Gauteng Department of Health to implement, without delay, all recommendations contained in the recently released Special Investigating Unit (SIU) interim report. This includes ensuring that swift and decisive action is taken against all officials implicated in the report, in line with the government’s commitment to accountability and clean administration,” he added.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

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