Gauteng Health underspends by R2.7 billion despite massive needs
5 June 2023
Despite massive needs, the Gauteng Health Department failed to spend a whopping R2.7 billion of its budget in the 2022/23 financial year which concluded on 31 March this year.
This bombshell information was disclosed last week on Friday at a meeting of the Gauteng Legislature’s Health Oversight Committee.
Most of the underspend was in the health infrastructure budget - R550 million was not spent despite the decrepit state of our public hospitals. It was stated that not a single Gauteng state hospital complies fully with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) - this poses a safety risk to thousands of staff and patients.
According to the Department, the low spending on infrastructure was “due to slow construction, progress of projects and contractors abandoning sites.”