Corruption blamed for repair delays at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital — 5 important things to know

The Gauteng health department on Thursday partly attributed the delays in repairs and reopening of the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital to corruption involving senior government officials. 

Department acting director-general Thabo Masebe said the department received a report from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) which implicated senior officials in the departments of infrastructure development and health. 

Masebe said officials were also implicated in wrongdoing in the appointment of contractors for the refurbishment of the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital in Carletonville.

He said the department was told the same officials were responsible for delays at  Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.

Masebe said the department has since suspended nine officials accused of wrongdoing.

Charlotte Maxeke Hospital halted services in April last year after a fire damaged parts of the building.

Here are five things to know about repairs at the hospital:

Structural and equipment repairs 

Ayanda Dakela, chief director for infrastructure and facilities management in the national health department, said blocks 1 up to 5, parking and medical equipment are some of the affected areas the department will focus on during the repairs.

The project plan also covers the maintenance of the facility to ensure the building is compliant with safety requirements.

“We intend to complete the package before the end of 2023 but the initial arrangement was 2027. The approach is going to be an accelerated approach where milestones will be flowing in parallel to ensure we finish in a short space of time,” said Dakela. 

Cause of fire still unknown 

Masebe said the cause of the fire is still unknown. Police and city officials are still investigating. 

“We are also eagerly waiting for the report on the investigations. When a fire occurs, there are institutions that have to conduct the investigations. It can’t be us as government because it is our building that was damaged,” he said.

Repair costs 

Hospital CEO Gladys Bogoshi said the department had received R68m to date for the project from the Solidarity Fund. She said this was not nearly enough and the department was crunching the numbers to establish the total cost for the project. 

Impact on staff

Bogoshi said the hospital was training staff to ensure the hospital functions efficiently after some healthcare workers left after the fire. She said the incident compounded the stress brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are unable to quantify how many left because of the fire because the exhaustion, strain and loss of family members were difficult for them. We are trying to retrain but it takes long to get a health worker to the point where they can do specialised work,” she said. 

Mental health and oncology wards affected

Bogoshi said 40 beds in a mental health ward were destroyed. Patients were moved to Helen Joseph Hospital while the oncology centre was moved to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. 

“Medical oncology was easy to set up at Bara because all we needed to do was help them put up a pharmacy that can deliver pharmaceutical services related to patients. That was the main service that put the province under pressure.”