Last week, a concerned resident visited the hospital for medical treatment and was shocked to find a water shortage and some of the hospital’s furniture badly damaged.

To make matters worse, some patients and diners at the Dros complained about a foul smell coming from the state mortuary.

Two weeks ago, during a council meeting, EFF members scorned the municipality for not availing funds to cut the grass at the hospital.
The EFF’s Zandile Ngubeni said the hospital failed to inspire hope to sick residents due to its appearance.

Parties agreed with the ANC’s Grace Mathibela that the hospital had no excuse for its sorry state, “as the institution has a budget available for maintenance”.

In July, four security guards were shot during an altercation at the hospital. The guards were reportedly shot by riot control officers.

Due to the population growth of the town, the Mpumalanga government budgeted for a new district hospital, which was supposed to be handed over to the health department in 2019. Since then, the deadline has been changed several times.

Construction at the new hospital has been halted due to the South African Auditor General investigation. This follows the withdrawal of Project Management Services after the AGSA made a finding that the services were duplicated by those rendered by the contractor’s personnel.

• A media enquiry was sent to the department of health, but no reply was received.