Mental health patients in Gauteng suffer from late payments

30 May 2021

Late payments to more than 100 NGOs are causing suffering to thousands of mental health patients as staff go unpaid and even food is in short supply.

These NGOs were supposed to be paid on 7 May but have still not been paid their subsidy of R4900 per patient by the Gauteng Health Department.

The delay is due to new Service Level Agreements that should have been signed earlier, and also because of the new financial year which started in April.

Every year there is a so-called “dry season” where payments are delayed because the department is short of funds as the new financial year starts.

Legal action has even been used in the past to get the department to pay.

Meanwhile, the welfare organisations struggle to provide for vulnerable patients on top of the extra expense in dealing with the Covid-19 epidemic.

I have communicated with Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi on this issue, and officials promised to pay by the end of last week, but this has not occurred.

It is really appalling that mental health patients are treated so badly even after the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

The department needs to get its act together and pay on time!

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 30 May 2021