Cause of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire remains a mystery

Ten months after a fire ravaged parts of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, the Gauteng department of health does not know how the fire started, saying investigations are ongoing.

To speed up the renovations, the provincial health department has turned to its national counterpart after it could not agree with the Gauteng department of infrastructure development (GDID) on the cost of renovations.

Gauteng health department acting DG Thabo Masebe said there was concern about the slow pace of the project.

“Everyone is concerned. Clinicians are concerned about their patients and the pace the project is moving at and parties have expressed concern, saying the renovations are taking too long.

“One of the causes of the delays in the repairs is there was no agreement between health and infrastructure development [departments], as health didn't give the scope of work needed and the two couldn't agree on the budget,” Masebe said.

On Sunday the Gauteng government announced the suspension of nine senior officials, some of them from the GDID.

Because they did not want a repeat of what occurred with the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital in the West Rand, which was flagged by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) after the contract ballooned to 10 times the original amount, they turned to the national department of health for help, Masebe said.

“On February 9, premier David Makhura signed a proclamation transferring the renovation work to national. We agreed on this due to the capacity constraints we're experiencing due the suspension of the officials.”

They did not want a situation where they overpaid for renovations.

“We're coming from a situation where the SIU revealed we spent in excess of R500m for AngloGold Ashanti Hospital, which still hasn't been fully used,” Masebe said.

Head of health facilities and infrastructure management, Ayanda Dakela, said his role was to ensure the facility was functional in the shortest time possible.

They had identified areas that needed urgent attention and areas where the facility failed to comply with occupational health and safety regulations.

“We've identified structural issues and other challenges such as parking for staff. There’s a plan in place where some items can be done immediately,” Dakela said.

Charlotte Maxeke Hospital CEO Gladys Bogoshi said the facility had been working under restrictions, which included the shutdown of the casualty ward. After 11 months the ward would be reopened.

“We've been operating with some restrictions and patients have been struggling. In health the most important resource is human resources and our staff have been struggling,” she said.

Asked what the total renovation cost was, Bogoshi said assessments by the national health department still needed to be done before a figure could be provided.

“The Solidarity Fund assisted us with a R68m donation for block one. Initial assessments said block one would cost R68m, but as work started more things came up which increased costs.”

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