A new state mortuary in Kimberley has been required for years due to capacity shortages at existing facilities.
The site of a new state mortuary in the Northern Cape is still sitting idle two years after the construction project was halted.
Part of a wider forensic pathology upgrade for the Frances Baard district, the project had stalled due to complications with the initial contractor.
During The Citizen‘s visit to the area as part of its election coverage, the structure, visible from Green Street in the Kimberley suburb of Galeshewe, was merely a brick shell protruding from the sand.
Located a short distance from the Northern Cape legislature and next door to the West End Hospital, the deserted construction site is a microcosm of failing infrastructure throughout the sewerage-lined streets of the province’s capital.
Sitting on the fringes of the Diamond City, its saving grace is the limited number of passers by able to lament the wasted opportunities.
Deceased remaining unclaimed
Dudley Dally, President of the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that mortuary and pathology services in Kimberley were virtually non-existent, as the existing state mortuary had been “condemned” in June.
He said that health and safety compliance issues had been known for years, hence the move to build a new facility.
“That’s been standing now for two years. The biggest thing is health hasn’t got money, and when they had the budget, the contractor that was there was incapable of doing it,” Dally told The Citizen.
The Northern Cape Department of Health (DoH) did not respond to questions regarding the project’s status, but National Treasury did elaborate on the expenditure tied to the project.
Treasury stated the project began in September 2020 and had an initial expected total cost of R203 million.
So far, R26 million had been spent on the incomplete project, with the health department having referred the matter to the State Attorney for a legal opinion on how to proceed.
R5 million has been allocated in this financial year for the project, with a further R200 million to be allocated for the project in the next two financial years.
“According to the Northern Cape DoH, it is anticipated that the issues that resulted in the project being put on hold will be resolved by the end of October 2026, enabling the project to resume in January 2027.
“The project is expected to be completed by the end of July 2028,” Treasury told The Citizen.
Parliamentarians noted the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Provincial Hospital and state mortuary in Kimberley were short of space, made worse by the number of deceased persons who had gone unclaimed by families.
“The project is currently on hold because there is a dispute between the Northern Cape DoH and the contractor. Consequently, the contractor has left the site.
“The construction work will only resume on site after the provincial DoH has addressed the legal dispute. The new construction programme will determine the new completion date,” the department’s response stated.
‘Significant degeneration’
The provincial government had previously committed to reforms in its healthcare sector, with Premier Zamani Saul reshuffling his executive in January following the resignation of health MEC Maruping Lekwene.
DA Northern Cape leader Isak Fritz stated that the reshuffle was “musical chairs” that came too late after years of mismanagement.
“The resultant instability and lack of ownership of this department have caused significant degeneration across the health sector.
“The strain on available funding sees health professionals embroiled in recurring battles to receive salaries and overtime payments, threatening the very backbone of health care,” stated Fritz.
At the municipal government level, the ANC in the Northern Cape expelled five members of Kimberley’s Sol Plaatje municipality in June for their role in municipal mismanagement.
“The organisation reiterates its commitment to discipline, accountability and ethical leadership, stating that conduct which undermines the values, principles and unity of the movement will not be tolerated,” provincial spokesperson Sandiseni Sithole told The Citizen.
