Health Department places thousands of jobs on the line with non-payment of suppliers
February 7th, 2019
The Department of Health is placing thousands of jobs on the line by not paying their suppliers on time, with debts in excess of 30 days amounting to close on R1-billion rand by the middle of the financial year. In response to a parliamentary question, Health MEC, Helen Sauls-August confirmed that the Department was in arrears by R929,9-million in September last year. SEE: IQP 47 Response 632 This is money …
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Patients suffer as condemned Lady Grey Hospital neglected
January 28th, 2019
Hospital patients from Lady Grey, in the foothills of the Drakensburg mountains, have had to seek treatment in a hospital that was condemned in 2009, because the failing ANC Government couldn’t be bothered to find alternative premises. Staff have been forced to work under exceptionally trying conditions, with the Lady Grey Hospital literally crumbling around them, because the Department of Health has failed to budget for much needed repairs. I …
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Makana Municipality failing its people
January 14th, 2019 In Riebeek East, just outside Makhanda, four new boreholes are ready to bring much needed water to the drought-stricken town, but the Makana municipality has failed to connect the boreholes or supply a further holding tank for water, despite receiving drought relief funding to do so. This is yet another service delivery failure by the Makana municipality because funds meant for service delivery are being used to pay salaries of …
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Makhanda – City of Shame
January 11th, 2019 Human waste running down the streets, RDP houses with no toilets and no water, houses with bucket systems that have not been serviced since before December, filth lying roof high on almost every corner of the town, and potholes that will shred car tyres and damage vehicles. This is what remains of the once beautiful city of Makhanda. I will be writing to the MEC for COGTA, Fikile Xasa once …
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DA welcomes the appointment of administrator for Mental Health
December 11th, 2018 The Democratic Alliance welcomes the announcement by Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi that government have finally acted on the Health Ombudsman’s recommendation to appoint an administrator to oversee Mental Health in the Eastern Cape. The Democratic Alliance has been calling on Eastern Cape MEC Helen Sauls-August to implement the findings of Professor Malegapuru Makgoba since the release of his report in August. The fact that the Minister had to step …
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Cardiac Catastrophe Looms
December 4th, 2018 Hundreds of people in need of critical, life-saving treatment are desperate, as the only functional cardiac catheterisation laboratory in the Eastern Cape is broken beyond repair. The cardiac cath lab, which is housed at the Provincial Hospital in Port Elizabeth, has rendered an essential service to children and adults with heart disease and other heart conditions. It has been manned by the first paediatrician in Africa to qualify as an …
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Crisis at Burgersdorp Hospital as nursing staff go on strike
November 30th, 2018
The Burgersdorp Hospital is in crisis, with hospital staff on strike since Monday over critical staff shortages that have simply been ignored by the Department of Health. The hospital is currently functioning with one nurse on duty, while the rest have downed tools. Patients are being referred to hospitals in neighbouring towns, but there is genuine concern over casualties that need immediate attention, which they may not get due to …
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Health Department’s failings being exploited by the greedy and corrupt
November 26th, 2018 There can be no doubt that the Department of Health is in crisis and urgent intervention is needed, but instead of taking steps to improve the situation, officials within the Department have allegedly found a way to use these failings to their advantage. Department Officials are allegedly working with unscrupulous lawyers and the State Attorney’s Office to defraud the Department by losing cases that could have been defended, for kickbacks …
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EC Department of Health not doing enough to combat Diabetes
November 13th, 2018 Diabetes is a silent killer that lurks in nearly every home across the Eastern Cape. Statistics show that this condition is becoming ever more prevalent and has become one of the leading causes of death in the province, even surpassing tuberculosis as the number on cause of death in some areas. The Department of Health needs to be held to account. I will be submitting questions to the legislature to …
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Health plays Russian Roulette with people’s lives as it ignores EMS
November 6th, 2018 The Department of Health is playing Russian Roulette with the lives of over six million people in the province, as it continues to ignore the plight of the Emergency Medical Services sector. People in crisis, who need urgent medical attention, are at times forced to wait for hours, because half of the already severely under-resourced ambulance service is stuck in a hopelessly cumbersome fleet management repair system. This crisis has …
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