The Eastern Cape department of health is in a constant state of crisis. It faces judgment debts amounting to hundreds of millions of rand and judgment creditors are lining up to seize its assets.
Suppliers owed money have no choice but to stop providing essential life-saving equipment and medication to this serial offender. Even oxygen is in short supply in hospitals.
Our sister publication, The Herald, reported this week that some of the province’s state-run adult and paediatric oncology units have a shortage of chemotherapy drugs due to the health department’s alleged failure to pay its suppliers.
Striking nurses, demanding overtime pay, at Dora Nginza Hospital have brought patient care to a standstill at this once world-class institution — which is now a shell of its former self.
And, of course, there is the never-ending stream of medical negligence litigation cases which annually deplete its healthcare budget by billions of rand.
In August 2024, the department acknowledged its contingent liability for such claims stood at about R22bn.
But none of this is new. It is an annual, predictable reality.
Nothing is ever done by the department to change it except, arguably, for the worse.
Healthcare institutions, including hospitals and clinics, consistently deteriorate as does the health care they are supposed to offer.
There are some that may rise above the circumstances, but they are few and far between.
There is a constant leadership crisis. Dr Rolene Wagner returned as head of department in August after inexplicably being seconded for a year to some “crack” support unit created by premier Oscar Mabuyane.
It seemed to be a unit of heads of department that had fallen out with their political heads.
To this day no-one knows exactly what that crack unit achieved but Wagner’s removal — just as she had made some headway in addressing the systemic challenges faced by the department — set it back even further.
The department reportedly started its current financial year with almost R5bn in unpaid bills — including for municipal services, medical supplies, hospital and fleet services.
It is a few months off its new financial year, and it will again start on the financial back foot.
It is also a repeat offender in terms of qualification of its audit outcomes.
This is particularly serious because it, along with the education department, gets the lion’s share of the province’s annual budget.
In 2024, Mabuyane described the department as one that gave him nightmares.
He has promised to give it better support to improve its performance as well as balancing its budget.
One can only hope that Wagner will, with Mabuyane’s support, be given the opportunity to steady this unwieldy ship. If not, the province should seriously consider putting it under administration.
Daily Dispatch