01/09/2026
IHAWU MEDIA STATEMENT
STRETFORD CYTOTEC THEFT: GAUTENG HEALTH MUST INVESTIGATE THE SYSTEM
IHAWU CALLS FOR AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO MEDICINE SECURITY, STAFFING AND EPWP DEPLOYMENT
1 September 2026
The Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU) notes the arrest of three Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers in connection with the alleged theft and illegal sale of Cytotec from Stretford Community Health Centre in Orange Farm.
IHAWU condemns the theft and unauthorised sale of medicines intended for patients accessing lawful termination-of-pregnancy services. The matter must be investigated fully and prosecuted where evidence supports criminal charges.
However, the arrests must not be the end of the investigation. The Gauteng Department of Health must explain how EPWP workers allegedly gained access to Cytotec, a Schedule 4 medicine requiring controlled storage and authorised access.
The Department must establish:
• What duties were the arrested workers authorised to perform?
• Which areas of the facility could they access?
• Who controlled the medicine-room keys?
• Were access registers, stock reconciliations and proper medicine-security procedures in place?
• Were EPWP workers performing duties beyond their authorised roles because of staff shortages?
EPWP status does not create clinical or pharmaceutical authority. IHAWU is concerned that chronic understaffing is blurring the lines between support, administrative, clinical and pharmaceutical functions. This places patients, medicines and workers at risk.
The Department must also address the broader conditions facing EPWP workers. Many have served in public healthcare facilities for years while remaining in insecure, temporary employment with limited career progression. If reports of a pharmacy assistant remaining in an intern or temporary position for approximately 16 years and earning around R3,500 are accurate, the Department must explain how such exploitation was allowed to continue.
IHAWU does not condone theft, illegal medicine sales or the exploitation of women seeking healthcare services. At the same time, the Department cannot focus only on the alleged offenders while ignoring the system failures that may have made the incident possible.
We call for an independent investigation into:
1. Medicine access and security at Stretford Community Health Centre.
2. The chain of custody and stock reconciliation of Cytotec.
3. The duties and access rights of EPWP workers.
4. Staffing levels and possible breaches of scope of practice.
5. The Department’s treatment and career pathways for long-serving temporary workers.
Three arrests may address the criminal aspect of the matter, but they do not answer the governance, labour and patient-safety questions.
The public deserves to know not only who allegedly stole the medicine, but how the system allowed it to happen.
Protect the medicine. Protect the patients. Protect healthcare workers. Fix the system.
IHAWU – THE SHIELD OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS.
Issued by:
Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU)
Contact Person(s)
Lerato Mthunzi | Rich Sicina
0658230082 | 0606821672
Malbourough House | 127 Fox Street | Marshalltown | Johannesburg | 2000
[email protected]
www.ihawu.org.za
