Concerns still raised over military hospital as private healthcare bills pile

A parliamentary committee has raised concerns on the defence department’s apparent unwillingness to take action against senior staff members who have acted unlawfully in the 1 Military Hospital refurbishment project.

Joint standing committee on defence co-chairperson Cyril Xaba said they found it unacceptable that the Department of Defence and Military Veterans had shown an unwillingness to account for the hospital’s “unending repair and maintenance”.

“We are concerned that the defence department failed to brief the committee on the forensic report that they have been sitting on for about a year, citing that it is yet to be taken through the internal structures due to its sensitive nature,” said Xaba.

The committee’s concerns centre around the escalation of construction costs and the cost of medical outsourcing.

“The cost incurred for outsourced medical services is projected from 2010/11 to 2019/20 to be about R1.086 billion, which is unacceptable.”

Xaba said due to outsourcing, the department continued to lose expertise at the facility.

“The project will remain a major point of focus for the committee and it intends to get the defence department to account in the near future.”

He said, despite this, the committee welcomed the Department of Public Works’ readiness to be held accountable.

It also welcomed its initiation of consequence management, which was a necessary measure to safeguard taxpayers’ resources.

In September, the committee raised concerns over the slow pace of the hospital’s revamp.

“The stalled programme, commissioned in 2006, has resulted in 1 Military Hospital losing its accreditation as a level 4 hospital by the African Union and United Nations to support external and international peace-keeping operations.”

The programme was expected to take just two years and five months to complete, according to Xaba.

“The committee was informed that between the 2016/17 and 2019/20 financial years, the department spent R138.7m, R177.8m, R130.3m and R182.4m respectively.

“This is very disquieting. What is concerning is that we can’t satisfactorily point to the value we have received from the expenditure so far.”

Committee co-chairperson Elleck Nchabeleng said: “We find it extremely problematic that the programme that started in 2005/2006 financial year, had yet to be concluded.

“It seems that the project is turning into a cash cow with no end in sight, which negatively affects the fiscus.”

Nchabeleng said the committee welcomed the intention to use the defence force works formation to finalise the project at the time.

The committee has resolved to revisit the 1 Military Hospital to get to the bottom of the matter and ensure accountability.