Austerity pains: Cutting govt budgets will cost us all much more in the long run

A frustrated patient screams angrily in the quite waiting area of the KwaMhlanga clinic in Mpumalanga, demanding to know how his file was lost for the third time.

“You lose my file, with all my medical history and treatment details…I feel abused and my rights trampled on,” he shouts as the clinic staff scoff and ignore him.

Other patients, waiting patiently for what feels like an eternity on the benches, share the screaming patient’s sentiments about vanishing files that are seemingly just an everyday occurrence among a basket of delivery failures at the clinic.

The complaints range from rude staff who lack empathy to there hardly being any medication in the pharmacy.

Sarah Mahlangu told The Citizen how her teenage daughter has to spend R200 each month on transport to collect her epilepsy treatment in Machiding about 50 km away, after KwaMhlanga clinic lost her file in 2018.

She explained that her daughter, who was diagnosed at 10, was initially getting treatment at Machiding clinic but was transferred to KwaMhlanga clinic when they relocated, giving birth to their current continuing nightmare.

Fearing the dire consequences which could arise if her daughter ran out of the little medication she had left, she went to nearby KwaMhlanga hospital, but the clinic allegedly ignored instructions to order medication.

“I had to take my daughter back to Machiding for treatment and spend on transport, she also loses on school just to get her treatment. That clinic must just be closed down, it is useless,” she said.

Sign of worse to come?

The Mpumalanga provincial department of health is yet to respond to questions about the state of the clinic, but experts believe this is not an isolated case of negligence but signs of a crumbling primary health sector, which they blame on an obsession with austerity.

Aside from the crumbling state of the country’s healthcare system, crippling budget cuts have also been partly blamed for the poor response by security agencies to last month’s violence, with reports of police running out ammunition to stop looting and destruction.

Former finance minister Tito Mboweni’s February National Budget announced planned public health spending had been slashed by a staggering R50.3-billion over the next three years, with the police budget slashed by close to R12-billion and that of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) cut by R15-billion.

University of Fort Hare postdoctoral fellow Dr Bianca Chigbu said unintended consequences of budget cuts to health could result in hospitals being forced to discharge patients prematurely, lack of medication, and healthcare professionals being laid off.

She said health issues, including HIV and Aids, tuberculosis, and cancer, will not miraculously disappear because government reduced healthcare spending.

“Healthcare costs do not decrease; instead, they increase. Healthcare difficulties deteriorate when the expense of treatment is shifted to individuals, and the poor cannot pay,” Chigbu said.

She said similarly education budget cutbacks will result in a more flawed educational system, with a decline in teacher development and training.

This will lead to a decline in instructor effectiveness, resources for students and a hike in cost of education and decline in level of education, in turn leading to decline in SA’s global competitiveness.

Chigbu lamented that budget cuts to police meant loss of skills and vacant posts not being filled, with the police unable to discharge its constitutional mandate to serve and protect.

“…communities may be forced to depend on neighborhood watch or vigilantism to help fill the void (as seen in the recent violence). This is frightening when one considers the potential of mob justice, a high incidence of crime, and a lack of public safety. There is no way a police service with a few officers can successfully patrol large cities and populations in a nation like South Africa, where all kinds of terrible crimes are perpetrated. Unfortunately, this budget reduction would make women and children more exposed to predators,” she said.

Chigbu said avoiding austerity measures could benefit the country’s economic outlook as expenditures on law enforcement, health care and education have the potential to boost economic development.

• siphom@citizen.co.za