Note to editors: Please find attached a soundbite by Jane Cowley MPL. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape has requested the Eastern Cape Department of Health give feedback, within 14 days, on its plans to remedy the slow response time and shortage of ambulances in Motherwell and other outlying areas of Nelson Mandela Bay. In recent weeks patients from Motherwell have died because Emergency Medical Service (EMS) officials …
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Failing ANC has no respect for the dead
March 18th, 2019
A family from Engcobo who booked a deceased young male for a post mortem at the Mthatha Pathology Laboratory are reeling from the shock that the body of the deceased has gone missing from the facility. And now, several weeks later, the police are seemingly no closer to tracking down the body of the deceased. Is this the way that the government cares for its dead? I have submitted parliamentary …
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Makhanda drowns in sewage
February 26th, 2019 As the municipal workers’ strike continues unabated in Makhanda, residents are being forced to live in conditions that are not even fit for animals. While severe water leakages continue to plague the drought-stricken town, sewage has begun bubbling up out of manholes and running through the streets of the town. Municipal sewage pipes lie broken with polluted water running into the yards of private homes, exposing residents to enormous health …
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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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