The Gauteng Department of Health should release reports on the conditions of public health facilities, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) said in the wake of partial roof collapse at Johannesburg’s Charlotte Maxeke hospital.
“Following the tragic collapse of the roof at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) in Gauteng calls on the Department of Health in the province to expedite the revamping of the increasingly dilapidated infrastructure in the province’s health facilities before more tragedies strike,” the union said on Friday.
“We also call on the Department to make public the audit reports of the conditions of health facilities as sought by organised labour. We welcome the immediate firing of the negligent contractor and also call for an audit of all contractors working in our health facilities.”
An investigation into the roof collapse, that saw seven people injured, was underway.
Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa said it seemed negligence by the build contractor was to blame after concrete rubble was put on the roof, which could not handle the weight leading to the collapse.
Denosa said it feared that the same could happen at other hospitals in the province.
“The issue of dangerous infrastructure in the province’s health facilities has been on the agenda at bargaining chamber in the province for ever, though. While five people – two patients, a staff member and two workers – had to be rescued, it remains our fear that in other facilities where there are cracks in walls and decay in timber, more people could become victims.
“Denosa fears that other buildings in the province may collapse on their own due to their poor state. Denosa applauds the great work done by the rescue teams at the scene and we are happy that no deaths occurred.”
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) that a full report on the incident be completed and made public as soon as possible.
“Although we are satisfied that so far, we are eager to know the exact extent of the damage to the hospital building and infrastructure as a whole – what it would cost and how long it would take to bring the hospital operations to full functionality and the condition of the building in good order,” the EFF said.
“We also demand that the project report detailing the exact outline of the causes of the collapse be handed to it and be made public, so that liability, responsibility and accountability may be transparently determined.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
