During the recent 2025/26 budget and policy speech in the Provincial Legislature, the MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, said the department’s budget of R19.75b is more than just a financial allocation; it is a strategic mandate to deliver essential health services to the people.

On July 22, Manzini said the largest portion, 60.36%, has been allocated to district health services, highlighting a strong focus on primary healthcare and community-level interventions.

This is followed by central hospital services and provincial hospital services, receiving 10.48% and 10.06% respectively. Emergency medical services was allocated around 3% to deliver emergency medical services and planned patient transport.

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Manzini said a significant achievement that has changed people’s quality of life by restoring their eyesight through the Cataract Marathon. “In the beginning of the 2023/24 financial year, the department had a backlog of more than 14 000 cases of cataract surgery, so we dedicated Tonga Hospital as the Eye Care Centre.”

“The backlog had been reduced to 4 636 by the end of the last financial year, with a total of 10 292 operations conducted since the 2023/24 financial year. Our aim is to eradicate the backlog by the end of the 2026/27 financial year,” said Manzini.

She added that significant obstacles remain, with antiretroviral treatment retention rates, the prevalence of teenage pregnancies, and malnutrition-related deaths demanding urgent, targeted action. “Capital expenditure execution, though lagging at 22.4%, highlights the need for redoubled efforts in project delivery.”

Regarding emergency medical services she said, “We made a commitment of procuring 10 ambulances annually, but we can report that we managed to double our efforts in the last financial year. We procured 30 ambulances and, this year, we are planning to procure 15 more. We are committed to turning the situation around through the implementation of effective and efficient interventions that will restore and enhance service delivery.”

During the debate on the budget, DA provincial chairperson and spokesperson on health, Bosman Grobler, said: “The mandate of this department is probably the biggest of all departments in the province. One way of getting the basics right in healthcare is to have a proper record of the patients in your care. Unfortunately, a patient went missing from a hospital, only to be found weeks later, dead in a field next to the hospital.”

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He also highlighted that the department is unable to locate 121 000 HIV-positive patients that require medical intervention.

Grobler went on to point to what he called a glaring inconsistency in the number of ambulances the MEC buys on a yearly basis.

“Currently, there are 181 ambulances, with another 16 budgeted for this financial year. But the department has fewer than 75 ambulances in operation due to staff shortages. The MEC could only employ 28 emergency care personnel. All the other positions could not be filled due to financial constraints. Let us get the basics right,” he said.