Johannesburg - Parliament's Committee on Social Services on Tuesday welcomed beleaguered Barney Tiego Selebano's resignation as Gauteng health boss.
"Despite the resignation, the committee's call for accountability against those responsible for the Esidimeni tragedy remains. All necessary disciplinary and legal processes must continue and reach their natural conclusion," committee chairwoman Cathy Dlamini said in a statement.
Selebano tendered his resignation on Monday in the midst of a string of disciplinary charges against him as the provincial head of the health department.
He testified at the Life Esidimeni hearing into the botched removal of psychiatric patients to unlicensed NGOs where 143 of them died. His initial attempts to evade giving testimony failed after he had approached the high court to block his subpoena.
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Selebano, a medical doctor, tearfully apologised to families as he concluded his testimony before the arbitration hearing in December.
Selebano was one of the officials fingered in Health Ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba’s report on the botched Life Esidimeni project. Makgoba found that Selebano committed "gross misconduct and incompetence" as one of the officials in charge of the transfer of mental patients.
Makgoba further recommended his conduct be reported to the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA).
Former health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, who resigned in the wake of the unfolding scandal and was widely blamed for the tragedy, is set to testify between January 22-26. She was last year subpoenaed as her whereabouts remained a bone of contention after reports that she was overseas furthering her studies.