“I decided to visit the hospital and observe first-hand the problems faced by the hospital. The report I received from the hospital does not mention anything about the real problems at the hospital. I was told that the pump is checked daily. Now I found the pump has not pumped water and that the reservoir has not had water in a long time, and it is leaking,” she said. The management told the MEC that they depended on the municipality for water.

“The municipality will never act until you visit their offices, that way they will see that you mean business. As the management you need to bother them, be a nuisance,” she told the management of Malemulele Hospital. The hospital drilled its own borehole and every time load shedding occurs, the hospital is without water. A borehole drilled by the municipality has also not been functional for a long. According to the management, the pipes connecting the borehole are not functioning.

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“The Limpopo Health Department wishes to dispel social media reports alleging that patients at Malamulele Hospital, including those in the maternity ward, are forced to fetch water outside the hospital due to water shortages in the hospital. It is true that the hospital has been without running water since Christmas due to a burst pipe. As a result, the hospital has been relying on municipal water tankers for supply. It must also be noted that the hospital has boreholes, but they are of little use due to their extremely low yield.

“As a result, restoring the water supply at the hospital completely depends on the district municipality’s agility to fix the burst pipe,” said Thilivhali Muavha, the MEC’s spokesperson. “The decline of sustainable water supply in hospitals in the province has been a thorn in the flesh of the department since it is practically not possible to run a hospital efficiently without proper running water. Some of the severely hit hospitals include Elim Hospital in Vhembe district and Kgapane Hospital in Mopani district,” he said.

The department added that it is engaging the water authorities to find a sustainable solution to the problem. The department has written to the respective municipalities indicating that without a speedy solution, it might have to close the hospitals.