The DA had raised concerns over the state of hospitals in the province. Its leader, Jane Sithole, said, “There is a lack of beds for patients with mental illnesses in the province.

Patients who need long-term care have nowhere to go and are eventually released back into the care of families who have no formal training to care for them.

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“Plans to address this shortage in the form of the Specialised Psychiatric Hospital are flimsy, and the DA wants urgent answers from the Department of Health in this regard. Currently, patients seeking mental health treatment are observed in Rob Ferreira, Witbank or Tintswalo hospitals for 72-hour observation. Thereafter, the hospitals struggle to place these patients, and ultimately they are released back to their families,” Sithole said.

Chris Nobela, the department’s spokesperson, said, “Rob Ferreira Hospital has 30 beds in its psychiatric ward. Our bed utilisation rate is manageable around 68%. Robs has never had a problem of bed sharing in any of the wards.”