NW Medicine Shortage: Failing ANC suspends officials but where’s the political accountability?

27 February 2019

The Democratic Alliance in North West takes note of the suspension of four officials at the Provincial Department of Health for alleged mismanagement at the medicine depot this week.

This again shows that when things under ANC governance go wrong it is usually junior officials who take the fall in an attempt to create a false narrative of corrective action being taken, yet the political heads of ANC governance failures, Presidents, Ministers, Premiers, and MECs continue their reign of destruction and looting.

This suspension of officials come a little too late as the crisis of medicine shortages and mismanagement of medicine distribution have become a trend in the province.

The DA is on record for several years now highlighting the failures of public health services in the province. These concerns were raised through written questions,  letters, engaging the committee and in member statements and debates in the Legislature where we repeatedly warned the failing ANC that the lack of consequence management, corruption, and poor governance endanger the lives of people dependent of public health services.

A fish rots from its head and the corruption and non-governance in the Department of Health under this failing ANC government has simply filtered through to all levels of health services delivery.

The non-payment of service providers and record keeping within the department is worrying. This is the same department who paid the Gupta’s Mediosa company more than R30 million without having rendered any services. All this while people suffer in public health facilities that are understaffed, underequipped and left without essential medicines, failing to provide quality health care.

It is only a DA-led government that can bring real change by putting an end to the corruption that has crippled the Health Department and speeding up the delivery of quality public medical services to all who need it.

Where the DA governs in the Western Cape we delivery quality public healthcare in public medical facilities that are considered world class. Clinics and hospitals in the Western Cape under DA governance are clean, well-managed, fully equipped, adequately staffed and properly stocked with essential medicines in order to deliver quality health services to all in need.

Quality public healthcare services in the North West will only become a reality when the people of this province vote for change on 8 May 2019.

Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Premier Candidate, 27 February 2019