Deputy Minister for Women, Youth and Persons Living with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, will engage the Health Minister and the ANC over her continued service on the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC).
This is after Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said his hands were tied on removing Letsike from the SAPC, which has powers to register pharmacy professionals and pharmacies, control pharmaceutical education, and ensure good pharmacy practice.
Motsoaledi was responding to parliamentary questions from MK Party MP Moshome Motubatse, who asked whether Letsike’s appointment was ethical and consistent with good governance at SAPC, which reports to the Health Department.
Letsike’s situation was thrust into the spotlight because she does not represent the executive, unlike Deputy Minister for Finance David Masondo, who does represent the government at the Public Investment Commission.
She started her second five-year term at SAPC in January 2024 before she was elected an MP and appointed as the deputy minister.
Motsoaledi said there was no administrative or enabling statutory requirement to remove the deputy minister after she was elected as an MP.
“However, the matter has been brought to her attention to reconsider her membership in the SAPC. I believe that Parliament, as an oversight body, has a responsibility to address the matter with her,” said Motsoaledi.
In response on Saturday, Letsike said she noted Motsoaledi’s responses, including his view that she should reconsider her continued participation in the SAPC.
“I will engage with the Minister of Health and the African National Congress on the matter, and together, we will evaluate my continued participation and contribution to the work of the council. Those engagements will be undertaken in good faith and with due regard to the principles of good governance and public confidence,” she said.
Letsike’s service on the SAPC previously came up at a meeting of the Health Portfolio Committee when the entity made a presentation on its mandate, regulatory functions, and current priorities in May.
Motubatse had questioned why Letsike had not resigned from the SAPC and asked what steps had been taken by the council to ensure that there were checks and balances on her appointment.
SAPC President Mogologolo Phasha had told the committee that they had written to Motsoaledi in September 2024, enquiring whether he would consider keeping Letsike on the council following her appointment as deputy minister.
“The minister elected not to withdraw the appointment,” he said.
Phasha further said Letsike had shown them letters indicating she had approached Parliament and the ANC chief whip, who gave her consent to continue serving on the council if she was not remunerated or claimed for travel.
On her part, Letsike said she had approached Parliament, ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli, and Motsoaledi immediately after her deputy minister appointment because compliance with the rules and ethics was important.
“Section 8 of the Code of Ethical Conduct and the Disclosure of Members’ Interests were exercised. One did not operate outside that,” she said.
The 2024 and 2025 Registers of Members’ Interests show that Letsike made a declaration on remunerated employment outside Parliament by the SAPC.
On Saturday, she said in an interview that she received no remuneration, sitting allowances, transport claims, or any other financial benefit arising from the SAPC.
“I take seriously the oath I swore as a member of the executive. My service on the council has always been transparent and undertaken in the spirit of public service,” she said.
Motubatse has argued that she should resign as the matter went beyond technical compliance.
“It strikes at the heart of ethical independence, institutional independence, and public confidence in regulatory integrity,” he said.
Motubatse said the SAPC leadership should be beyond reproach and free of executive influence and pressure.
“The deputy minister is not an ordinary citizen. She forms part of the executive and, by extension, carries authority, influence, and political weight of the Presidency,” he said, adding that Letsike’s views at SAPC may be misconstrued as government policy and preference.
However, Letsike dismissed that she wielded power by virtue of being a member of the executive, saying the SAPC was an independent statutory body.
“My role as deputy minister has neither diminished the independence of the council nor afforded me any undue influence over its work. My participation has always been guided by the principles of ethical governance, transparency, and service to the public,” she said.
She maintained that her service on the SAPC has been voluntary public service that was undertaken without remuneration, personal benefit, or improper motive.
“I have spent over two decades contributing to advocacy and public health policy and governance. That has always been the heart of the work, including being of service to the people.”
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za
