{"id":91256,"date":"2025-10-09T16:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T16:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day"},"modified":"2025-10-09T17:27:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T17:27:55","slug":"lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day","title":{"rendered":"Lesufi Distances Himself from Tembisa Hospital Prayer Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has distanced himself from a prayer day event that was set to take place at Tembisa Hospital.<\/p>\n

In a video posted on social media, Lesufi said he was unaware of the event and ordered its immediate cancellation when he saw the promotional poster circulating online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was only alerted by my office when they saw the poster and I immediately called the MEC (of health, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko) to say I\u2019m seeing this, I\u2019m not aware and I see my face is there but the sensitivity and the timing I don\u2019t think is correct, so please don\u2019t proceed with the event,\u201d said Lesufi.<\/p>\n

The poster, which went viral on social media, advertised a prayer day for Tembisa Hospital scheduled for October 9 and featured Lesufi\u2019s image alongside the logos of government and community organisations.<\/p>\n

Lesufi\u2019s office issued a statement saying the poster was misleading and that Lesufi had no involvement in the event. It said the picture of Lesufi implied his endorsement and attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201dAs soon as the premier became aware of it, he advised the organisers to withdraw the poster and cancel the event. The event therefore is no longer happening,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Lesufi said he appreciated that officials understood the public sensitivity surrounding the hospital which is under scrutiny following a damning Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report.<\/p>\n

The premier\u2019s office said Lesufi remains focused on restoring governance and accountability at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cPremier Lesufi\u2019s focus remains unequivocally on the urgent work of restoring good governance and public trust in Tembisa Hospital. This includes ensuring that swift and decisive action is taken against all officials implicated in the SIU\u2019s interim report,\u201d his office said.<\/p>\n

The controversy follows public outrage after the poster\u2019s circulation, with many South Africans criticising what they called an insensitive attempt to \u201cpray away\u201d corruption.<\/p>\n

On X, user Mathome Samuel Sefoka said: \u201cReligion or should I say Christianity, it doesn\u2019t assist us with any accountability. Just imagine churches meeting with the crooks and praying together instead of arrests and attaching properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another user, Bongani Nkuna, wrote: \u201cOur people want to pray instead of demanding arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DA also condemned the initiative calling it a \u201cnew low\u201d for the ANC government.<\/p>\n

\u201cLesufi\u2019s Tembisa Hospital stunt \u2013 a new low, even for the ANC,\u201d the DA said in a statement. \u201cR2bn was stolen from a hospital meant to heal the sick \u2014 money that should have saved lives and paid for medicines.<\/p>\n

The DA said instead, \u201cwhistleblower Babita Deokoran was murdered for exposing the truth\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, instead of justice, Lesufi\u2019s government held a prayer day for the hospital they allowed to be looted. How can you pray for victims of your own corruption?\u201d said the DA.<\/p>\n

Last week, the SIU revealed that more than R2bn of taxpayers\u2019 money was looted from Tembisa Hospital between 2018 and 2022 through corrupt tender syndicates involving Gauteng health officials and service providers.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has distanced himself from a prayer day event that was set to take place at Tembisa Hospital. In a video posted on social media, Lesufi said he was unaware of the event and ordered its immediate cancellation when he saw the promotional poster circulating online. \u201cI was only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-91256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nLesufi Distances Himself from Tembisa Hospital Prayer Day - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has distanced himself from a prayer day event that was set to take place at Tembisa Hospi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lesufi Distances Himself from Tembisa Hospital Prayer Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has distanced himself from a prayer day event that was set to take place at Tembisa Hospi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-09T16:40:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-09T17:27:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/10\/sm_1760017896.732377.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Lesufi Distances Himself from Tembisa Hospital Prayer Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-09T16:40:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-09T17:27:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/10\/sm_1760017896.732377.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lesufi-distances-himself-from-tembisa-hospital-prayer-day\",\"name\":\"Lesufi Distances Himself from Tembisa Hospital Prayer Day - 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