A R2.9m state-of-the-art maternity ward at Dora Nginza Hospital is standing locked, unused and gathering dust — seven months after it was completed — despite ongoing pressure on public healthcare services.
Behind the sealed doors lie brand-new equipment and empty beds that have reportedly never seen a single patient, raising serious questions about planning failures, wasted resources and decisions taken far from the realities on the ground.
Insiders, who are not permitted to talk to the media, said the ward on the hospital’s first floor — known as C.1.3 — and intended to accommodate additional postnatal patients, had become a white elephant.
They say the ward has not received a single patient in the past seven months.
Eastern Cape health spokesperson Siyanda Manana confirmed that the ward was completed on October 28.
However, he said the need for its use had been “minimised” as “there is no longer a backlog of maternity procedures, especially elective procedures”.
Hospital staff who spoke to The Herald agreed, saying there had not been an overflow of postnatal patients in the past six months.
They believe the money spent on the ward could have been better used elsewhere.
However, they said they were not consulted on the decision, which was taken at Bhisho level.
One hospital staffer said the expensive equipment in the new ward was gathering dust.
“The ward is locked up with the most expensive equipment inside that will ultimately lose its warranty.”
The insider attributed the ward’s non-operational status to poor planning in Bhisho and a failure to consult workers on the ground before going ahead with the project.
A second staff member said: “Almost everything in there is tucked away in boxes.
“There are even extra mattresses and curtains. Everything is wrapped in plastic.
“I think only the cardiac monitors have been put up on the walls.
“The ward is out of this world — the kind other countries would envy.
“But the problem is that it was not what the hospital needed right now.”
Authorities reportedly wanted to move the unused equipment to the high care unit, which opened in 2010, but that proved impractical.
“The money could rather have been used to buy something usable for the hospital to save lives.
“They wasted a lot of money that could have been used to hire, for example, specialist nurses that work in theatres.”
A third source said the department needed to rather deal with the blockage in the theatre.
“The [postnatal ward] was presented as a solution to a problem that does not currently exist.”
Manana said the postnatal ward (C.1.3) formed part of a construction project to build a multimillion-rand Cerebral Palsy Centre of Excellence at the hospital.
In June 2025, Eastern Cape health MEC Ntandokazi Capa billed the centre as a solution to medico-legal claims.
Manana said the contract for the centre was valued at R64.86m for a period of 15 months.
“The value paid to the contractor to date inclusive of VAT is R29.36m, which represents 45% of the contract value.
“This includes the R2.97m for the upgrade of the maternity ward on the first floor, referred to as ward C.1.3, to accommodate postnatal patients, and ward C.2.1 on the second floor for use as delivery rooms as an interim measure as part of the decanting plan when delivery rooms on the ground floor are refurbished.”
He said the section earmarked for upgrades and additions to treat cerebral palsy patients was still under construction and only targeted for completion on February 14 2027.
“The Eastern Cape department of health is considering ways to optimise the use of the postnatal maternity ward C.1.3.
“One of the options considered is to expand capacity to treat neonatal patients in need of ICU care, but such a decision depends on the resourcing of the ward in terms of critical care medical staff and non-medical staff.”
Manana said the centre was scheduled to be completed by September 22, but due to delays caused by rains and strong winds, the contractor revised the completion date to February next year.
“The centre can only be commissioned once the building upgrades are completed.”
He confirmed that the decisions were taken at head office in response to obligations to honour a court judgment to provide centres of excellence to treat patients with cerebral palsy.
The decision to upgrade the wards on the first and second floors, Manana said, was a response to the “binding” public protector findings and instructions.
“The intended outcomes and impact of the upgrade of the maternity ward and delivery rooms are that the inadequate space in the maternity ward will be addressed, such as avoiding women who have given birth having to wait on uncomfortable chairs for beds to be assigned to them.
“This exposes them to risk of contracting diseases and other complications.”
Manana said this would address the inadequate number of beds and consultation rooms in the maternity ward to deal with the overflow during busy periods, afford patients privacy and address health and safety concerns.
Capa’s spokesperson, Camagwini Mavovana, said the centre was not established as an isolated or unilateral initiative.
“It forms part of a provincial programme to establish centres of excellence for cerebral palsy at strategic healthcare facilities across the province, including Dora, Cecilia Makiwane and Frere, in line with the department’s commitment to provide adequate clinical care where liability exists while simultaneously strengthening maternal and child healthcare services,” Mavovana said.
She said Capa had been consistently briefed on the project’s implementation status as part of routine infrastructure oversight and the implementation of the medico-legal strategy.
“The MEC has continuously maintained the department’s position that the project forms part of the broader strategy to strengthen maternal and child healthcare services, improve patient safety and reduce avoidable medico-legal exposure through improved clinical systems and specialised care interventions.”
Mavovana said the expenditure already incurred related to active construction, infrastructure upgrades and interim maternity ward improvements which formed part of the approved project scope.
She said the upgrades already completed were undertaken in direct response to long-standing concerns regarding overcrowding, patient dignity, inadequate consultation space, infection risks, privacy challenges and health and safety concerns within maternity services at Dora Nginza.
“The project, therefore, continues to serve a legitimate public healthcare purpose and forms part of broader provincial efforts to strengthen maternal and child healthcare services, improve patient outcomes and reduce future medico-legal exposure.”
Eastern Cape health portfolio committee chair Koliswa Vimbayo said any public infrastructure which remained unused for prolonged periods, particularly where specialised equipment and public funds were involved, raised serious concerns that warranted scrutiny and accountability.
“Whether the matter constitutes wasteful and fruitless expenditure, as defined in applicable legislation, can only be determined following a detailed assessment of the facts, expenditure processes, operational readiness and reasons for the delay or non-utilisation.
“The committee remains committed to ensuring accountability, effective healthcare service delivery and value for public resources.
“The matter will be considered through appropriate legislative oversight mechanisms,” Vimbayo said.
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