Tembisa hospital woes need urgent intervention

During a recent oversight visit to Esselen Park, Ekurhuleni, I was saddened to learn of the unfortunate suffering of a resident whose illness had worsened after being misdiagnosed nine times at the Tembisa Hospital.

In an effort to assist, I took her to the Edenvale Hospital where she was immediately admitted and correctly diagnosed with anaemia.

Ntsekhe-RefiloeWith the correct diagnosis and treatment, there were immediate signs of improvement.

The incompetence of Tembisa Hospital staff is unacceptable and needs to be urgently addressed.

One has to wonder how many other patients Tembisa hospital has misdiagnosed?
It is extremely disappointing that Tembisa Hospital and Edenvale hospital, while relatively close to one another, are on opposite ends of the service spectrum.

Twenty years into our democracy, all citizens, regardless of where they live should have access to high quality and affordable health care.
The shortcomings of Tembisa hospital are not new to Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, who alongside Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, conducted a surprise visit in June last year.

During the Premier and MEC’s visit they identified staff shortage as a major challenge to the hospital that caters to more than 2.5 million patients a year.

Given these shortcomings, I will request that MEC Mahlangu provide a full breakdown regarding what steps have been taken by her department to rectify the challenges plaguing this facility.
Media enquiries:
Refiloe Nt’sekhe
DA Constituency Head of Tembisa
060 558 8297

 

Expired driving permits highlight law enforcement failure

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reports by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) indicating that 366 761 heavy duty and public transport operators are on Gauteng’s roads with expired professional driving permits is an indictment on law enforcement in the province.

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Drivers of heavy duty and public transport vehicles require these permits to prove their ability to operate these vehicles.

Gauteng is second only to KwaZulu-Natal when it comes to road fatalities and experiences an ever increasing number of road violations.

Despite laws being in place, it is clear that current law enforcement structures are failing.

As a result, and what is clear from the startling number of expired professional driving permits, is that compliance and regard for the law is at an all-time low.

The Gauteng Provincial Government needs to take decisive action.

What it must do is move the Gauteng Traffic Police force from the Department of Community Safety, and place it back under control of the Department of Roads and Transport.

The DA has for a long time raised this issue with Roads and Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi, and Community Safety MEC, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.

We will continue to pressurise the MEC, as well as Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, to heed our calls in ensuring not only compliance – but also effective road law enforcement which ensures the safety of all road users.

Media enquiries:
Dr Neil Campbell MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport
082 387 2540

DA pointers for Gauteng Premier Makhura: Give power to the people

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On Monday, 23 January 2015, Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, will outline the provincial government’s service delivery plan of action in his annual State of the Province Address (SOPA).
In only his second address, the “people’s premier” and his “activist government” have to pay heed to last year’s SOPA promises, by giving back the power to the people of the province, and not leave them behind – and that will require a few bold steps.

 

E-tolls
The contentious tolling system of Gauteng’s freeways has been a thorn in the side of Premier Makhura since taking office. In response to the beating the ANC took at the 2014 polls, the premier established a review panel to assess the socio-economic impact of e-tolls on the people of the province.

During its consultation process and in the panel’s final report it became abundantly clear that e-tolls were forced onto the citizens of Gauteng with limited consultation, and that their unilateral implementation harmed the poor, the working class, and the provincial economy.

The people of this province have on numerous occasions and on numerous platforms said that e-tolls must go, yet the premier and the ANC refused to recommend they be scrapped.

Only one solution remains, and that is for the premier to announce a provincial referendum on the future of e-tolls in his address.

Infrastructure Development
The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) is a department that shows neither fear nor favour when it comes to thwarting service delivery. It continuously overspends, underachieves and shifts blame – and the premier needs to tackle this department head-on.

Government departments’ service delivery programmes are undermined by DID’s incompetence, and the province will not unlock growth and development unless this department fires on all cylinders.

There will be no growth without infrastructure.

Health
The health and well-being of residents of this provincMoodey-John1-240x300e remains a major priority for Premier Makhura, and he needs to re-establish public confidence in government health facilities.

Too often do stories of malpractice, medical shortages, long queues and ailing health infrastructure hit the headlines, with very little or no reassurance that this administration is serious about caring for the needs of the people.

As a starting point, the premier should announce the decentralisation of procurement to hospital CEOs. By doing so, bureaucratic red tape that often hinders critical care will be minimised – improving the quality of healthcare to residents of the province.

Coupled with this, the responsibility of maintenance and repair should be removed from the ambit of DID and be done in-house. This will alleviate the backlog in infrastructure projects and increase maintenance turnaround time.

Economic Development
While Gauteng may be the economic heartbeat of South Africa, its pulse is rapidly fading.

Innovative and incentive based approaches are needed to increase employment and economic growth.

It cannot be business as usual while the people of this province are crying out for the right conditions to steer the ship of Gauteng into less stormy waters, and the premier needs to announce a definitive policy direction to loosen the economic shackles of cumbersome, bureaucratic red tape.

By simplifying processes such as registration and regulation – business will flourish: Particularly SMME’s and those individuals trying to eke out a living in the province’s townships.

Special Economic Zones and Innovation Hubs in our township economies will go a long way in bringing people into the formal economy, while at the same time improve skills and increasing the provincial revenue base.

Education
As migration into Gauteng continues in search of a better life, the demand for education in our ever-expanding communities remains a priority.

So too should it be a priority for Premier Makhura.

Failing infrastructure, overcrowding, and a lack of sanitation, electricity and water; coupled by the limited number of state schools – are all factors that harm quality education.

It is imperative that these issues are dealt with in a timeous manner to ensure that Gauteng provides quality basic education to all learners.

If not, the province will suffer an educational disconnect.

Local Government

Local government remains the coalface of government’s service delivery agenda.

It is where the political will to do, or not to do, has the most direct impact on the day-to-day lives of the people.

This administration needs to pay heed to the cries of people living in municipalities around the province, who are in a daily struggle for water, electricity and decent housing.

Corruption runs rampant, the law is openly flouted, wrongdoers are protected and communities’ service delivery needs are disregarded.

It is the poorest of the poor who bear the brunt of maladministration and malaise – waiting, and in some instances dying, before their basic human rights are met.

The introduction of new metropolitan municipalities is neither feasible nor will it be conducive to the residents living there as centralisation is not the master stroke to cure all ills.

This is apparent in other metros such as Ekurhuleni, where communities are only serviced when the premier comes to visit; or Johannesburg, where financial management and billing is a shambles; and Tshwane, where government contracts are reserved for the mayor’s extended family and comrades.

Local government is slowly reaching boiling point, as communities are increasingly resorting to violent protests as a means to an end.

Gauteng is on a precipice, and Premier Makhura will do well to heed the DA’s recommendations to intervene in municipalities failing to carry out their constitutional mandate.

Instead of telling good story to his comrades and his friends on Monday, Premier Makhura must be the “activist premier” he purports to be, and lead his government and the people of Gauteng into an era of prosperity and economic growth, free from e-tolls, corruption, nepotism and maladministration.

Media enquiries
John Moodey MPL
DA Gauteng Provincial Leader
082 960 3743

 

DA calls for calm in Leeuwfontein

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The DA calls on the community of Leeufontein east of Pretoria, to be patient while we engage with Cooperative Governance (COGTA), MEC Jacob Mamabolo over their service delivery grievances.

Community members occupied three plots of land which was allegedly sold to them illegally – and the matter is yet to be settled in court.

The failure to ensure proper transfer of ownership has caused a lack of infrastructure development in the community.

Leeufontein informal dwellers took to the streets after they had been waiting for over a year for basic services like housing, water and electricity.

While the DA respects people’s right to peaceful protest, we do not condone the wanton destruction of property and illegal land invasion.

To this end the DA calls on MEC Mamabolo to provide alternative accommodation to informal dwellers, serviced with basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity to the community of Leeufontein.

The DA has also submitted written questions to MEC Mamabolo demanding an explanation as to who the title bearers of these properties are, why this land was occupied before township development processes were finalised, and what plans his department has put in place for alternative resettlement for residents.

The people of Leeufontein have the right to dignified living conditions, provided with quality basic services, and the DA will continue with our efforts until these rights are realised.

Media Enquiries:
Adriana Randall MPL
DA Constituency Head: Taemane
060 556 4342

 

R14 million spent on half-built clinic in Randfontein

R14.2 million has been spent on a half-built clinic in Randfontein on the West Rand that was supposed to be completed in July last year.

This is revealed by Gauteng Infrastructure Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mayathula-Khoza, construction on the Randgate clinic was stopped at 52% progress and the contract with the Pazimo/Mintiro Joint Venture was terminated due to non-performance and poor quality on site.

Construction started on 7 May 2013 and it was supposed to be completed on 7 October 2014.

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The contractor has been paid R10 084 173, and consultants have been paid R4 111 638.

This is yet another example of a huge waste of money due to a poor choice of contractor and poor monitoring of building progress.

Meanwhile, local residents suffer because a clinic is urgently needed in the area.

Mayathula-Khoza says that the appointment of a new contractor is at an advanced stage, and that June this year is the scheduled date for completion.

I doubt that this new deadline will be met and it is likely that another R10 million will be spent on this clinic because of the department’s incompetence.

We have seen cost over-runs and delays in large projects like the Jabulani and New Natalspruit hospitals, but smaller projects like clinics are also handled disastrously.

Professional project management needs to be established as soon as possible, otherwise more money will be lost when building new clinics and hospitals.

Media enquiries:
Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health
082 333 4222

 

Gautrain precincts remain hotspots for criminals

Yesterday a Gauteng Legislature staff member was robbed at gun-point of his computer, smart-phone and wallet by five thugs.

Whilst there is unfortunately nothing unusual about such incidents in South Africa, the fact is that numerous people are being mugged on an ongoing basis right outside the Gautrain Park station.

Several GPL members and staff have already been subjected to similar acts of violent robbery.

Errol Braithwaite, the Bombela spokesperson, has stated that the contract with Bombela’s security company precludes security officers from operating outside the Gautrain stations- albeit only a few feet from Gautrain property.
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The police, as usual, seem to be incapable of deploying undercover officers to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

The total inability or unwillingness of the SAPS and Bombela to address this crime issue is totally unacceptable.

Public transport is rightly identified as the only solution to traffic congestion – but an absolute requirement for efficient public transport is the safety of the commuters it carries.

The problem is compounded when existing public transport remains unreliable – as has been the case with the recent Rea Vaya bus strikes.

As a result of the strike, Rea Vaya commuters are forced to use the Gautrain bus service, creating delays and overcrowding, leaving many no other options but to walk.

The DA calls on the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS, Lieutenant General Lesetja Mothiba, and Bombela to take immediate steps to stop the daylight muggings outside Gautrain stations.

Media enquiries:
Neil Campbell MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport
082 387 2540

 

Delays to Kempton Park hospital re-opening misleads Tembisa residents

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature Health Committee has once again misled the public by announcing the re-opening of the Kempton Park Hospital.

During a recent “taking government to the people” visit to the community of Tembisa at the Rabasotho Hall by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Health committee; head of department (HOD) Dr Barney Selebano has once again announced the long awaited re-opening of the Kempton Park hospital.

Whilst the DA welcomes the need to add a hospital facility to the growing community of Tembisa; we hope that this is not another ploy by the Health Department to quieten community demands, by repeating delayed plans.
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Previously announced promises to re-open the old hospital have never materialised. In August 2013 the Health Department announced that the hospital would be rebuilt within two years.

The Department of Health has no assigned budget for the year 2015 to refurbish the derelict building that has become nothing but a ghost town.

Announcing to the public a long term plan that the HOD knows will possibly only materialize in 2017 creates false hope by the Health Department to the community – misleading them – simply to silence their demands.

To this end the DA will be submitting written questions to Gauteng Department of Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu to finally answer the repeated question when the Kempton Park hospital will be re-opened?

Media enquiries:
Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL
DA Constituency Head of Tembisa
060 558 8297

Answers needed on why ambulance brought dead body home

I am horrified by the report that an ambulance brought a dead body back to the family home after the patient died on admittance to the Far East Rand Hospital.

 

According to Virginia Mdingi, the mother of Sithembile (31), he was still alive after arriving at the hospital on Tuesday this week. She was shocked when the ambulance took his dead body home instead of to a government mortuary.

 

The family is unemployed, and getting the body to a private undertaker involved additional trauma.

 

The Gauteng Health Department must investigate this matter and hold people accountable for this inhuman action.

 

Health authorities should always act with sensitivity in matters involving the tragedy of death.

 

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