Patients and staff suffer from further delay in reopening Charlotte Maxeke Hospital casualty unit

23 March 2022

It is bitterly disappointing that the re-opening of the casualty unit at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH) has been delayed further to mid-April this year.

This is according to National Health Minister Joe Phaahla who has blamed sabotage for the delay.

Last year Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi promised that it would be opened in January, but the National Health Department had to take over the repair of the hospital after mismanagement and suspected corruption by the Gauteng Infrastructure Development Department.

The casualty was then supposed to open in mid-March, and MEC Mokgethi later said she hoped it would be ready at the end of March.

Meanwhile, accident and emergency patients continue to suffer at other hospitals which are over-crowded and short of staff to treat them.

The Helen Joseph Hospital is worst affected, with casualty patients waiting days before being admitted to a ward.

But the strain of extra casualty patients is also felt by the Chris Hani Baragwanath, Edenvale and South Rand hospitals.

I am also concerned that the Hillbrow Community Health Centre has to deal with more casualty patients even though it cannot deal with the more serious cases.

Medical staff are at breaking point because of the bungling of repairs to CMJH.

The Democratic Alliance will continue to campaign for a more speedy reopening of CMJH by involving the private sector to help resolve the bottlenecks.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 23 March 2022