Non-existent maintenance plan the cause of flooding at North West Tshepong Hospital

15 January 2021

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the North West will write to the MEC for the Department of Health, Madoda Sambatha, requesting him to urgently address the infrastructure failures at the Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp.

This follows after heavy rains flooded the hospital on Thursday night, particularly affecting the casualty, outpatient department and pharmacy. See pictures here and here.

Although the MEC gave the assurance that the water has been cleared away, more needs to be done to prevent such disasters.

The fact that the hospital also flooded in 2006, indicates the need for a serious overview of the water drainage infrastructure and calls for urgent maintenance repairs and improvement to the drainage system to prevent flooding in future.

It is concerning that the designated Covid-19 hospital in the province is unprepared to deal with unforeseen circumstances.

It is simply unacceptable that a preventable crisis such as flooding should endanger lives in the midst of a pandemic.

The DA will continue to fight for the constitutional right to the quality medical care of every patient in the North West.

Issued by Gavin Edwards, DA North West Spokesperson on Health, 15 January 2021