Gauteng residents suffer due to poor decisions around the maintenance of health facilities

5 April 2023

Gauteng residents dependent on state healthcare have become victims of poor decisions by leaders of the ruling party, who are not prioritising adequate maintenance of health facilities.

Due to the ongoing pressure from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng regarding the state of maintenance at health facilities, an investigation was initiated. The investigation confirmed that they do not have the necessary resources or expertise to do their own maintenance.

Despite this finding, a decision was taken by the current ANC-led administration that health facilities will now be responsible for their own minor maintenance. Unfortunately, this has left the Department of Health in limbo while the condition of facilities continues to deteriorate. Going forward, the best option would be to outsource the maintenance of these facilities.

The decision by the administration to announce that health facilities would perform their own maintenance was not thought through and made without due diligence. This shows a distinct lack of leadership and lends credence to the view that our political leaders lack the skills and experience to run this province.

Another example of poor decision-making was the decision to spend more than R500 million on refurbishing the AngloGold Ashanti hospital in Carletonville without considering that the hospital was still owned by a third party and that security in that part of the West Rand was compromised. The result is that today the hospital is abandoned, and criminal activity has prevented the facility from being utilised for any other purpose. Again, it is a disgrace that over half a billion rand has been thrown down a black hole.

Residents of Gauteng have a golden opportunity in 2024 to rid the province of poor decision-making that impacts our quality of life.

Issued by Alan Fuchs, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Infrastructure Development and Property Management, 5 April 2023