Taxpayers have spent millions of rand on diesel costs to avoid load-shedding at Eastern Cape state hospitals.
This was revealed by health minister Dr Joe Phaahla in response to a parliamentary question by Freedom Front Plus MP Philip van Staden.
According to Phaahla, public health facilities in the Eastern Cape forked out R81.1m to keep the lights on between April 1 2022 and February 28.
Van Staden said plans needed to be drafted to enable the public healthcare sector to overcome the current power crisis.
“If SA’s infrastructure had not totally collapsed and was managed and maintained properly over the last 29 years, and if corruption, mismanagement and maladministration were not the order of the day, there would have been no need to contend with these major challenges,” Van Staden said.
State hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal spend the most, with a diesel bill of almost R180m, followed by Gauteng with more than R130m.
Phaahla’s reply further indicated that 76 state hospitals and clinics out of a total of 213 were at present exempt from load-shedding.
In the Eastern Cape, seven hospitals were exempt, nine in Limpopo, 15 in KwaZulu-Natal, four in Mpumalanga, four in the Western Cape, two in the Northern Cape, three in North West, 14 in the Free State and 18 in Gauteng.
