Cape Town - The opposition in the legislature said it was shocked at the delays regarding the rebuilding of the GF Jooste Hospital, also known as the Klipfontein Hospital, in Manenberg.
The facility was decommissioned in 2014. It was meant to be rebuilt, but seven years later there has been little progress and the provincial Department of Health still has no idea when it will be rebuilt.
Following the standing committee on health’s discussion of the 2021 adjustments budget, ANC provincial health spokesperson Rachel Windvogel said she was shocked by the delay.
She also queried why the department had failed to spend the R10 million that had been set aside as part of the process of rebuilding GF Jooste.
“In March, we were told the process would be completed in 2030. These delays have definitely pushed this date further back.
“The people of Manenberg, Gugulethu and surrounding areas will continue to suffer until after 2030 as the government is not serious about rebuilding GF Jooste Hospital,” Windvogel said.
This was another indication that poor people’s lives did not matter to the province, she said.
Before its decommissioning GF Jooste was the only hospital serving the Klipfontein area, which comprises Manenberg, Gugulethu and Nyanga.
Community activist Roegshanda Pascoe said: “Everything we foresaw with the closure of the hospital all that time ago has come to pass.”
She said that since the hospital was closed, residents had to travel to a hospital in Heideveld, which she said was more like an emergency hospital or stabilisation centre.
Pascoe said that from there patients were sent to Groote Schuur, Mitchells Plain or New Somerset hospitals.
Last month, during scrutiny of the department’s annual report, Windvogel had asked for an update on the GF Jooste Hospital.
On that occasion, head of health Dr Keith Cloete said the hospital was one of three, the others being Belhar Hospital and Helderberg Hospital, that were being prioritised.
He said a contract had been advertised for the building but there had been an “objection” to the process which had resulted in the contract not being awarded.
On Wednesday, department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said the contract for the appointment of professional service providers to design the hospital was advertised on November 5 this year, and a clarification meeting was held on November 23.
“This tender closes on January 25, 2022. The projected cost for stage 1 of the project is R2.2 billion,” he said.
A statement from the Department of Public Works said it was the implementing agent on this project for the Department of Health, and that it viewed the construction of the hospital as a megaproject that would greatly benefit the community and the larger Western Cape population.
Windvogel also asked why R74.5m of the Western Cape Vaccine Programme was unspent and had since been reallocated to other programmes.
“We are shocked and alarmed that the provincial vaccination programme has failed, and that R74.5m earmarked for the population’s protection will now be utilised for vaccine sites in Athlone and the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).”
She questioned why funds are still being made available to the CTICC site when the site had been closed.
The ANC has vowed to bring up both issues in a special debate on Covid-19 vaccinations on Thursday and the Health Budget debate due to take place on Friday.
Participants in today’s debate will include Premier Alan Winde and Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo, and the subject for discussion is: “The development of the Covid-19 pandemic and the importance of vaccinations in the fourth wave of Covid-19 to protect our citizens and families.”
During the debate Winde and Mbombo will provide an update on the current Covid-19 situation in the province.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za