Are tenderprenerus benefiting from exaggerated Covid-19 bed projections in Gauteng?

6 August 2020

There are strong indications that COVID-19 infections in Gauteng have peaked and are declining but disproven models that projected a very high demand for hospital beds are still used to justify new field hospitals which in all likelihood will not be used.

My suspicion is that these field hospitals have not been canned as they are enriching tenderpreneurs as we have seen with other contracts awarded under cover of the COVID-19 crisis.

According to the Gauteng Health Department there is still spare capacity at public hospitals for COVID-19 patients and the NASREC field hospital is not full either. 

A total number of extra 2418 beds are to be added to 11 hospitals, of which 309 ICU beds and 117 general beds have already been completed and the others should be ready soon. These should be more than sufficient and have the advantage of permanently expanding hospital capacity for future needs of a growing population. 

Private hospitals are another source of beds, which is why the department has signed a service level agreement with them.

It is therefore clear that the planned field hospitals at the Tshwane Expo Centre, Sinaba Stadium in Benoni, and sites in Soshanguve, Midrand and Diepsloot will not be needed and are a waste of money.

Equipment for the Tshwane Expo Centre alone is budgeted at R5 585 475, with the same overpriced furniture as at NASREC, including beds costing R13 000 each.

The whole idea of field hospitals are emergency structures set up in a matter of weeks to meet peak demand, but there is no use in new field hospitals that will only be ready in September or even later. We won’t be able to staff them either.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has acknowledged that the infection peak has come sooner than expected, but the Gauteng Health Department still expects it in late August or September. 

A rethink is needed on the planned field hospitals which should be halted otherwise they will only serve as a bonanza of riches for connected people.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC, 6 August 2020