Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says a committee has been set up to ensure that repairs to the fire-damaged section of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital are expedited.
The Minister, together with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, spoke to the media after a visit to the facility which suffered extensive damage during a fire in 2021.
Recently, the hospital came into sharp view when the Public Protector released a report on the hospital which found that repairs had been unduly delayed owing to systemic failures, maladministration and budget underspending.
“As the national Department of Health, the National Treasury, the Premier’s Office in Gauteng, the Provincial Department of Health [and] the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) – who are the developers – we have put up a plan.
“There’s going to be a meeting every Tuesday to look at the plan and that meeting will be chaired by the Premier. They will be sitting, going through the Public Protector’s report and make sure that they fix things.
“But beyond the Public Protector’s report, there are things that we have already started in the national department ... We did not just fold our arms. We had to change the manner in which things are procured and that will be part of the work that the committee will be doing,” Motsoaledi said.
The Minister said he had received assurances from the DBSA that the wards in the hospital will be open in August. – SAnews.gov.za
