Gauteng Short Of 574 Doctors And 1 209 Nurses

Gauteng State Hospitals Short

Gauteng state hospitals are short of 574 doctors and 1 209 nurses, but Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu says “there is no effect on patient care as the vacant posts are replaced immediately through walk-in applications and the annual block advertisement.”

This is according to a written reply by Mahlangu to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu “the majority of posts are vacant due to a process of natural attrition. Some positions are in the process of being filled.”

Scare Skills Required

She also says that “in health professional categories i.e. pharmacist, therapist and certain medical and nursing disciplines, scarce skills are required and they are not readily available for appointment in the Public Sector, thus the extended delay in filling these positions.”

The largest vacancies among doctors are the following:

  • Medical Officer Grade 1 – 151
  • Registrar (Medical) – 110
  • Medical Officer (Community Service) – 78
  • Medical Specialist Grade 1 – 60
  • Medical Officer (Intern) – 58

It is also worrying that there are 17 clinical unit and department head vacancies.

Large Vacancies

The largest vacancies among nurses are as follows:

  • Nursing Assistant Grade 1 – 184
  • Professional Nurse Grade 1 – 340
  • Professional Nurse Speciality Nursing – 141
  • Clinical Nurse Primary Health Care – 88

There are at present 5 125 doctors and 27 873 nurses in Gauteng state hospitals, but many in the highly skilled categories are close to retirement.

MEC Mahlangu should not be complacent as the shortages do affect the quality of patient care and training needs to be stepped up, particularly in specialist areas.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

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Intervention Needed At Etwatwa SAPS

Etwatwa SAPS

Urgent intervention is needed at the Etwatwa SAPS, following numerous complaints that have been received by the DA from disgruntled community members about the lacklustre operation of police officials.

Many have complained that they have not received adequate assistance and were treated with contempt.

There is a shortage of eight SAPS vehicles and this affects visible policing in the community.

The Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department are not working closely with the SAPS to prevent crimes.

Provincial Police Commissioner

Etwatwa was exposed to extreme violence last year during the OVL gang attacks and as a result, residents took the law into their own hands.

I will accordingly write to the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt General D.S de Lange, to request that he intervene at the local SAPS office and investigate the claims made by community members.

The SAPS must enforce the law and make sure that residents feel safe in their community.

Serious action needs to be taken.

 

Media enquiries:

Michele Clarke MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Community Safety 

060 558 8299

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DA Debates Women’s Month: Honouring Women Is A Celebration Of The Future Of SA

Speech by: Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

“Honouring women is a celebration of the future of SA”

  • Today, I honour women who on a pension grant will raise a community – these are the real heroes.
  • In many occasions in this house, I have highlighted the challenge of the girl child – poverty.
  • Being a professional blessee is even beginning to be an aspirational career for young women – rake in a rich blesser and the woman is set: the chance to wear designer clothes and be set up in a Sandton apartment.
  • I am saddened, when in Marikana, a brother who had lost his job on the mines asked his sister to prostitute herself because this was the only way they knew how to raise money so that they could eat and return home to the Eastern Cape.
  • Women have choices because the constitution dictates so, however in practice these rights are violated on a daily basis. Women endure violence and are violated

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Media Enquiries:

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development

060 558 8297

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HONOURING WOMEN IS A CELEBRATION OF THE FUTURE OF SA

Thank you madam speaker,

In this month we should celebrate yet at the same time use this time to remind ourselves how far we have come as women in this country and how far we still have to go.

I wish to honour my mother for raising me to be the woman that I am today. Then I wish to honour women who today who are making great strides to ensure that they are heard in whatever challenges they deal with.

Let me start by dedicating my speech today to the young ladies of my alma mater Pretoria High School for Girls – who stood their ground in wanting to wear their hair natural – setting the future tone for multi-racial schools.

Madam speaker, it is today that I honour women who on a pension grant will raise a community – these are the real heroes.

Those who have so little are usually the ones most willing to give. I honour the woman who earns a pension grant but runs a feeding scheme for the children in her neighbourhood.

I wish to highlight the plight of young girls: let us not forget that in parts of Gauteng our girls miss school because of their menstrual cycle. These young women deserve nothing less: that time of the month shouldn’t mean missing school. Statistics have shown that girls miss on average as many as 50 days a year due to the cycle visit.

In many occasions in this house, I have highlighted the secondary challenge of the girl child – poverty. A girl coming from a poor home lured by a richer older man to have sex in exchange for material goods.

Sadly the price of this relationship is one which often than not, the teenage girl will contract HIV or some sexually transmitted disease or in some instances, a baby which then steers her away from her studying or finishing school.

Most of the time, once the baby is born, the girl is responsible for looking after her child and doesn’t return to school. This is the price that our girls pay for expensive clothes and smart-phones. Joining the ranks of being “drop-outs”.

Then the sugar daddy wants nothing to do with them because most of these older men are husbands and chose to protect their marriages.

If the father is a boy of the same age, it is the girl that is left with the baby – having to leave school in order to give birth while the boy continues to study and don’t suffer the same consequences for their actions.

They don’t have to loose on valuable study or school time. Many of these pregnant girls rarely go back to school to complete their studies – robbed of their futures and dreams.

Where is the boy (father) one wanders? Sometimes off with the next girl. If the girl is lucky, the boy might play a supportive role.

When girls makes it through high school and get into tertiary education, they face another wave of challenges. South African institutions of higher learning have become hunting grounds for rapists.

I remind you again of the role poverty plays on women, especially mothers who will do just about anything to put food on the table for their families. This situation has made poor women easy prey to blessers.

What about the so called male stokvels that are organised and women become the prize at the end of the evening: the host determines what the price is for the women to be paid in the morning when they depart from the blessers, around R200.

Being a professional blessee is even beginning to be an aspirational career for young women – rake in a rich blesser and the woman is set: the chance to wear designer clothes and be set up in a Sandton apartment. But – not set for life because the blesser is a married man.

I am saddened, when in Marikana, a brother who had lost his job on the mines asked his sister to prostitute herself because this was the only way they knew how to raise money so that they could eat and return home to the Eastern Cape.

Madam speaker South Africa’s women still suffer many challenges but the worst is from a very patriarchal society: where the majority of women still earn far less than their male counterparts, and yet in this same society it is the mothers that look after families and raise the children.

A woman in the work place is asked whether she intends having children or more children. If the response is yes, implicit discrimination is practised because she will commit the unsaid crime of being pregnant and going on maternity leave and so she is overlooked for that promotion or position.

In old age, you have the grandmothers of our society whose pensions are taken by the very grand-children whom they raised.

These wise women if not found are left to live in horrendous conditions where they are poorly fed while their grants are used to buy the much loved drug – nyaope.

Equally concerning is gender based violence. In rural communities, we have seen older women being raped by their grandsons.

Women have choices because the constitution dictates so, however in practice these rights are violated on a daily basis. Women endure violence and are violated.

Let me remind us all – women are the bearers of all nations.

Then, madam speaker, I challenge all the men of this house to stand in solidarity with women in two ways:

  1. One – just because you are not a woman doesn’t not mean that you can’t fight for women’s issues.
  2. Two – Adopt an attitude that says “As a man, not in my name will a woman suffer”

Madam speaker as I close, I wish to highlight the challenges I face and those who see themselves in me irrespective of their gender or age or race. Yes, madam speaker, I am a young, black, woman.

I encounter the “triple-challenge” in life: I am black, I am a woman and I am young. Because of this, society imposes a “triple-prove-yourself” mentality.

Having said that, I see it fitting to address fellow women – it’s not pretty when a woman puts down another woman. Women should learn to build each other and not pull each other down.

The latest criticism is that “I wear a doek like I will be serving tea”.

My response is simple. I am Sotho and I choose to wear a Seshoeshoe outfit with a doek and “if serving democracy is my tea, then I am very happy to serve”.

I thank you.

 

Outdated Gauteng School Policies Need To Be Reviewed By SGBs

#StopRacismPretoriaGirlsHigh

The latest revelations regarding ‘dress policy’ at Pretoria Girls High School have brought to attention some school policies which are both divisive and discriminatory.

Policies that unfairly discriminate against people are unconstitutional and do not have a place in our democratic dispensation.

The DA therefore welcomes Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi’s commitment to launch an investigation. This report should then be tabled before the Gauteng Legislature for scrutiny.

School Governing Bodies

The DA furthermore implores parents and School Governing Bodies to partake in the policy review process and to bring these issues to the fore. School Governing Bodies are empowered to act, and need not wait for an external investigation to do so.

Codes of conduct in schools are there to encourage conducive learning and teaching environments.  Creating an inclusive environment for this to happen must be made a priority, so that every child – no matter their race of background – can achieve their very best academically and pursue a life of dignity.

 

Media enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education

082 398 7375

No Jobs-For-Pals In DA-Led Municipalities

Municipal Managers and Heads of Departments

Senior positions, particularly those of Municipal Managers and Heads of Departments, in the DA-led administrations of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Mogale City will not be given to party members, but will be open to transparent recruitment processes ensuring that only the most competent individuals are employed to move these cities forward.

The DA will appoint suitably qualified and competent people into positions who are fit for purpose and can fulfil the responsibilities of the office that they carry.

Cadre Deployment

It is vital that residents receive quality services, on time and in a dignified manner. This can only be done when competent staff are employed to serve the people of the Metros we govern.

Unlike our predecessors, cadre deployment will not be the order of the day when much work needs to be done to uplift the lives of our people.

All recruitment processes will be open, inclusive and transparent and subject to public scrutiny.

 

Media enquiries:

John Moodey

DA Gauteng Leader 

082 960 3743

Joburg Hospital Short Of 364 Nurses

Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital

The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital is short of 364 nurses, and has a total of 436 vacancies in all staff positions.

This information is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

 

The hospital currently employs 4716 people in the following categories:

Support staff             1065

Admin staff                  520

Nursing staff              2201

Medical staff               625

Allied staff                   305

The major shortage is in nursing, but other shortages are as follows:

Support staff             12

Admin staff                21

Medical staff             12

Allied staff                 27

Loss of Skilled Staff

According to Mahlangu, the primary reason for the loss of skilled staff is due to “better remuneration in the private sector and the opportunity for self-employment.”

She says that “there has been no impact on patient care related to the loss of staff as vacant posts have been filled”.

I am concerned by the nursing shortage at the hospital which surely does affect the quality of patient care.

Many nurses are close to retirement age, so more training and recruitment is needed to fill the nursing posts at this major hospital.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom

DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC

082 333 4222

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Gauteng Hospitals Fail To Spend R59m On Equipment

Gauteng Public Hospitals

Gauteng public hospitals failed to spend R59 million out of R480 million that was budgeted for equipment last year.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu, “underspending was incurred within the District, Psychiatric, Other Specialized, Tuberculosis, Dental Training, Provincial Tertiary and Central hospitals and this was due to payment of key non-negotiable items within goods and services item that were prioritized.”

Underspending

The biggest underspend was at the Helen Joseph, Kalafong and Tembisa hospitals, which failed to spend R34 million that was allocated to them for equipment.

R7.3 million that was allocated for Dental Training was also not spent.

The underspending and the diversion of funds for other goods and services shows poor management and budgeting.

Medium Term Economic Framework

Patients suffer when there is a shortage of vital equipment.

Mahlangu says that the department has set up a medical equipment committee to review the equipment needs per institution, and this will inform the budget requirements over the Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF) period.

I hope that this ensures an adequate budget for hospital equipment and that it is fully spent.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom

DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC

082 333 4222

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DA Leaders To Cast Votes For Change

This Election, 3 August 2016, the DA Leader and battleground Mayoral Candidates will cast their votes as follows:

 

DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP –

Live coverage on SABC and ENCA

Time: 08h00

Location: Allen Glen High School, Randburg, Johannesburg

Media enquiries: Mabine Seabe (084 677 7851)

Maimane will be joined by DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba.

 

DA Mayoral Candidate for Cape Town, Patricia De Lille –

Time: 08h50

Location: Pinelands Town Hall, St Stephens Road, Pinelands, Cape Town

Media enquiries: Cameron Arendse (079 477 2744)

 

DA Mayoral Candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay, Athol Trollip –

Live coverage on SABC and ENCA

Time: 09h30

Location: Westbourne Oval, Richmond Hill, NMB

Media enquiries: Kristoff Adelbert (079 199 1890)

 

DA Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, joined by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP –

Live coverage on SABC

Time: 10h00

Location: Capital Park Primary School, Flower Street, Tshwane

Media enquiries: Motheo Mtimkulu (083 728 0554)

 

DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba –

Time: 11h00

Location: Sandton Fire Station, Grayston Drive, Joburg

Media enquiries: Nkele Molapo (072 041 4842)

 

DA Mayoral Candidate for Ekurhuleni, Ghaleb Cachalia –

Time: 11h45

Location: Eastleigh Primary School, Central Avenue, Edenvale

Media enquiries: Warren Gwilt (073 601 6144)

 

DA Mayoral Candidate for Midvaal, Bongani Baloyi 

Time: 09h00

Location: Rothdene Hall, Ward 3, Midvaal

Media enquiries: Percy Koji (078 690 2770)

Msimanga To Return To Solomon Mahlangu Square On Final Push To Win Tshwane

Today, 02 August 2016, DA Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, will return to the site where he officially launch his Msimanga-For-Mayor campaign in October last year as he embarks on the final push to win Tshwane.

After months of campaigning, thousands of kilometres travelled, and countless voters canvassed, Election Day is upon us with all indications that the DA can win Tshwane on August 3 and bring the change the Capital needs.

Change is only possible though if each and every voter who wants corruption stopped, better services delivered and more jobs created comes out to vote for the DA.

Msimanga will be joined by DA National Spokesperson, Phumzile van Damme MP, and Constituency Head for Mamelodi, Natasha Mazzone MP.

The event will take place as follows:

Date: 02 August 2016
Time: 10h15
Venue: Solomon Mahlangu Square
Address: Cnr Tsamaya Avenue and Waltloo Road, Mamelodi, Pretoria

There will be opportunity for photographs and interviews.
Media enquiries:
Motheo Mtimkulu
Media Officer: Tshwane Mayoral Campaign
083 728 0554