DA members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature were hoping to get answers from Members of the Executive Council (MECs) for Health and Infrastructure Development on the future of the Kempton Park Hospital but instead claim “the two sang from the same hymn sheet”.
This was during a meeting held on Wednesday where the DA posed questions to the members.
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“Both departments said the Infrastructure Development Department had undertaken a conditional assessment of the hospital, which has been submitted to the Health Department. It is now up to the Health Department to study the assessment, and for it to decide whether the hospital will be renovated, repaired or completely reconstructed,” said DA political head for Kempton Park and Tembisa, Refiloe Nt’sekhe.
“While this may sound like welcome news, the fact that neither MEC could provide any timelines as to when decisions would be taken is a clear indication that it will be years before the Kempton Park Hospital will be fully operational in some way or another.”
Nt’sekhe pointed out that both MECs refused to respond to why the hospital was closed in the first place.
“Firstly the Department of Health has to study the plan, and then decide on a way forward, and then it has to find the budget before handing the project to the Department of Infrastructure to carry out. This alone will take at least two to three years,” she said.
The opening of the New Natalspruit Hospital, she said, was delayed by five years and ran over budget by almost R560-million.
“The construction on the Daveyton Hospital has yet to get under way, despite being on the health department’s to-do list since 2006. Residents of the Kempton Park area simply cannot be forced to wait another five to seven years for quality health care,” she pointed out.
Nt’sekhe further added that Gauteng’s population was growing at a much faster rate than the rest of the country as more and more people made their way to the province in search of a better life.
“Our government needs to live up to premier David Makhura’s promise of an activist and responsive government,” she said.
Opening Kempton Park Hospital, she said, would reduce the pressure on the Tembisa Hospital.
“Mindful of this urgency, the DA will continue to put pressure on government to fast-track Kempton Park Hospital, and we will use every avenue available to do so. The DA will remain at the forefront of this matter until the hospital opens its doors,” Nt’sekhe said.
