DoH-sponsored mental health crisis across the country will lead to more deaths

19 September 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal through a series of parliamentary replies that the Department of Health is presiding over a looming mental health crisis across the country. It is clear from these shocking statistics that no lessons were learnt when 144 patients died during the Esidimeni Tragedy.

To date, almost 50% of South Africa’s hospitals, which offer mental health services, do not have a single psychiatrist serving communities. In addition, almost 90% of all mental health facilities in the country do not have a registered councilor that would deal with any backlogs that facilities may experience. Finally over 30% of all hospital offering mental health services do not have a single clinical psychologist.

The country's facilities are entirely devoid of any mental healthcare specialists and ill-equipped to deal with the demand of mental health services. This leaves millions vulnerable, without the professional assistance and likely to fall prey to unregistered facilities where a Life Esidimeni outcome is likely.

The picture painted by these statistics is particularly dire in the provinces which demonstrates to us why hundreds of the most vulnerable patients died at the hands of an uncaring Gauteng Government.

Mpumalanga does not have a single psychiatric hospital in the entire province. In addition to this, in Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Limpopo there are no licensed NGOs to province mental health services to the public. Instead, Mpumalanga, North West and the Northern Cape all have 3 specialists in the entire province to deal with the demand of mental health services.

South Africa has a mental health crisis due to chronic under-investment in the system for decades. Between 2014 and 2019 we have only added about 277 psychiatric beds in our facilities across the country. This is indicative of a government that it out of step with the growing needs of the population and political leadership that will not be held accountable for poor health outcomes.

That is why the DA is opposed to the introduction of a National Health Insurance Bill which will not do anything to improve the quality of care for people and address the systemic backlogs in our Public Health Service.
The DA will demand from Minister Zweli Mkhize and his department a mental health strategy that will address these very challenges. We will stipulate timelines by which his department must provide details on plans to rectify this looming disaster.

Issued by Siviwe Gwarube, DA Shadow Minister of Health, 19 September 2019