Dead baby in a dumpster should move government to investigate medical waste disposal

03 March 2016

Today I write to the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi and the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa to urgently investigate why it is that a dead baby, as well as pharmaceutical waste, tragically found its way into the Sol Plaatje Municipal Waste site in Kimberley. 

It is unacceptable that neither the hospital nor the Department of Health (DoH) and Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) have accounted for or acknowledged this tragic event. It is indeed clear that medical waste is still a non-issue to them and more lives are still at a grievous risk as a result.

According to the Diamond Fields Advertiser (DFA), foragers came across a black bag containing a fully-formed baby, drip bags, empty medicine bottles and protective medical clothing which carried the name of Kimberley Hospital. Tsenolo has the tender for medical waste removal from Kimberley Hospital.

Our Constitution provides for the dignified disposal of human anatomical waste and safe disposal of hazardous waste. The illegal dumping of anatomical and hazardous waste poses a danger to the environment when pollutants and pathogens enter water sources and may cause widespread infection and toxicity.

The safe storage, removal and disposal of medical waste are the legal responsibilities of the generator, which in this case appears to be Kimberley Hospital. They are stringently regulated by the National Health Act of 2003 (specifically Regulations Relating to Health Care Waste Management in Health Establishments of 23 May 2014) and the National Environmental Management Act of 1998.

If Kimberley Hospital and Tsenolo are the responsible parties in what are criminally negligent offenses, they and the Northern Cape Department of Health should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 

It is high time that the national government clean up the bloody mess created by the poor governance, mismanagement and sheer corruption that has plagued this industry, worth over R500 million a year at taxpayers’ expense.

It is a sad fact that the tragic discovery of someone’s child may shake this government out of its complacency. I have, in the last few months, visited ten hospitals to examine their medical waste storage sites and found seven of them in violation of the law.

The DA has written four letters to the Auditor-General requesting that he investigate the financial affairs and tender integrity of the medical waste removal business – we await a positive answer. The DA has written as many letters to Minister Motsoaledi, to no avail. It would be in our estimation both a Constitutional and moral failure if action is not taken now.

Statement issued by Dr. Wilmot James, DA Shadow Minister of Health, 3 March 2016