Three Gauteng public hospitals, 71 clinics run out of diesel as load shedding intensifies

The Gauteng Department of Health says its exploring alternative solutions, including the installation of rooftop solar panels in government buildings, to deal with diesel shortages at the province’s public hospitals and clinics.

Diesel shortages

Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko recently revealed that three public hospitals and 71 clinics had run out of diesel in the last year to run generators during frequent load shedding.

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Nkomo-Ralehoko said the Jubilee District Hospital, Bheki Mlangeni, and Far East Rand Hospital ran out of diesel, as well as 20 Tshwane clinics and 51 clinics in the West Rand.

The MEC blamed the shortages of diesel on load shedding, which she said, resulted in service delivery delays, water shortages, thefts, equipment damage and fridge failures.

Nkomo-Ralehoko revealed this information in a written reply to questions in the Gauteng legislature from Democratic Alliance (DA) MPL Jack Bloom.

Increased demand for diesel

Speaking to The Citizen, Gauteng health department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the shortage of diesel was due to the increased demand for fuel during load shedding.

Modiba said the amount budgeted for diesel in the 2022/23 financial year was R141 940 500. And due to the increased demand for diesel, the provincial health department ended up having to spend R147 791 300 as of 30 January 2023.

“The shortage of diesel is a question of supply and demand. The department endeavours to maintain security of supply for diesel by ensuring that agreements are in place with service providers. This measure has its own limitations as well.

“Recent global factors have seen fuel prices going up significantly and due to frequent load shedding, facilities have had to order fuel more frequently above their normal requirement. This automatically puts a strain on the supply side as demand is higher, and at short notice,” said Modiba.

Rooftop solar panels

In an effort to address the power supply challenges at health facilities in the long term, Modiba said the Gauteng provincial government – through the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency – recently announced a rooftop solar power project which is meant to alleviate pressure at public hospitals and clinics.

This will apparently see 11 public hospitals being able to harness close to 10MW of their own electricity from rooftop solar PVs in phase one of the project.

“This is a major milestone towards ensuring that we minimise the impact of load shedding on essential services rendered at our facilities. More details will be shared by the provincial government as the project unfolds,” said Modiba.

He added that the National Health Department (NDoH) had also announced that it was looking at a phased approach investment in renewable energy through solar power installation at health facilities as part of its energy mix.

“The NDoH is also engaging with Eskom and other stakeholders to look at having power supply lines that can isolate hospitals from the general supply given, that part of the challenge at the moment is that not all facilities can be isolated as their supply lines are intricately linked to those of communities where they are and they can’t be isolated in the current set up.”

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