R115 million wasted on uncompleted wards in Gauteng hospital
27 June 2023
R115 million was spent at the Kopanong hospital in Vereeniging on wards meant to be used for the Covid-19 pandemic, but not a single one has been completed and the Gauteng Health Department has no plans for what has been built.
This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.
According to the MEC, the wards are all incomplete because the appointed service provider was unable to finish the project and their contract was terminated.
The original plan in 2020 was to rapidly build 300 ICU beds for Covid-19 patients using Alternative Building Technology (ABT), but it fell way behind schedule and was never used.