By Anita Dangazele
- Democratic Alliance says poor people cannot afford taxis, let alone private doctors or medical aid.
- Health system in crisis with patients sleeping on floors, no medicine and R4.8-billion in unpaid debt.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has been criticised for saying that all South Africans can choose where they get medical help, even as many people in his province suffer in collapsing hospitals and clinics.
Mabuyane was asked in the provincial legislature if he would ever use the same public hospitals as ordinary people. He replied: “All citizens have a constitutional right to choose where to receive medical assistance.”
But Democratic Alliance Shadow MEC for Health Jane Cowley said his answer showed how out of touch he is.
“The vast majority of people in the Eastern Cape do not have the financial means to ‘choose’ anything,” said Cowley. “They cannot opt for private care when there is not even enough money to get a taxi to a clinic, no doctor on duty when they arrive, and no medication when they are finally seen.”
Mabuyane also said that if someone waits 10 years for surgery and is still alive, then they did not really need the surgery in the first place.
Cowley slammed that too, saying it shows how little he understands the daily suffering of thousands of people who live in pain, cannot walk, work or take care of their families.
“When procedures such as knee and hip replacements are delayed, the physical damage gets worse,” she said. “By the time people finally reach the front of the queue, they are often too sick to get the operation.”
She added: “Waiting a decade for essential surgery is not a sign of resilience. It is a symptom of collapse.”
Cowley said Mabuyane has full medical aid and government-paid transport. But ordinary people sit in overcrowded, under-resourced hospitals hoping for help that may never come.
She said the Premier refuses to put the provincial health department under administration, even though the system is falling apart.
The department owes R4.8-billion in unpaid bills. Many hospitals have medicine shortages. Patients sleep on the floor.
“If this is what he considers functional, one must question whether his definition includes access to care, basic dignity or accountability at all,” she said.
The Democratic Alliance has called for the department to be placed under administration.
Meanwhile, the health crisis in the province continues.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, district manager Sonia Lupondwana has been removed after a series of disasters.
These include babies kidnapped from Dora Nginza Hospital, threatened strikes by doctors at Livingstone Hospital, and fights between staff and management at Uitenhage Provincial Hospital.
Pictured above: Premier Oscar Mabuyane.
Image source: Eastern Cape Office of the Premier
