Municipal water disruption affects services at Carletonville Hospital

Carletonville Hospital in the West Rand is suffering from severe water disruptions, which have made the hospital’s theatre and maternity ward non-functional, the DA in Gauteng says.

The party’s spokesperson on health and wellness, Madeleine Hicklin, said the hospital has been receiving a low water supply because of the Merafong local municipality’s R1.6 billion debt to Rand Water.

“Theatre and maternity units at Carletonville Hospital are non-operational due to the water crisis, putting patients’ lives in danger.

“This crisis stems from Merafong local municipality’s water supply having been throttled by 20% over non-payment of a R1.6 billion bill to Rand Water,” she said.

Hicklin said the situation has also disrupted the general operations of the hospital such as serving patients with food.

Operational challenges

“This situation is unbearable; there is no Central Sterilisation Supply Department to sterilise instruments.

“Outpatient and emergency departments lack toilet facilities, while inpatients have limited access to water and restrooms, relying on manual delivery.

“Food services have been disrupted, making washing dishes a significant challenge.”

Hicklin said that in addition to their everyday duties, nurses at the hospital have also been tasked with fetching water from tanks outside the hospital and carrying it up several floors.

“Nursing staff are compelled to juggle their health care-giving responsibilities with the additional task of collecting water from tankers and carrying it up five flights of stairs to meet patients’ needs,” she said.

Hicklin said the situation at the hospital could compromise the health of patients and workers at the hospital.

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Water tankers sent to help

Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health and Wellness, Motalatale Modiba, said a water outage at the hospital occurred on May 8 and was resolved on the same day.

However, the hospital is now using water tankers to supplement the municipal supply.

“The municipality is facing critical challenges due to ongoing restrictions by Rand Water on the municipality’s supply. These limitations have significantly reduced the flow of water into the hospital’s reservoir system,” Modiba said.

Despite the interim measures, the situation remains precarious.

“If the municipality is unable to restore normal water pressure, the issue could persist for the foreseeable future,” Modiba warned.

‘Heads must roll’

Hicklin appealed to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to urgently attend to the problems at the hospital.

“The DA Gauteng demands that Premier Panyaza Lesufi resolve the water crisis affecting patients and health professionals in this hospital.

“Heads must roll, and this adds to the reasons why Lesufi must fire the MEC for Health, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, and head of department Lesiba Malotana, because they have failed to provide alternatives to ensure this hospital does not run out of water,” she said.

Last week, the Gauteng health department said there were problems with the hot water supply at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

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