The Frail Care Crisis Collective in Nelson Mandela Bay has welcomed a decision by Eastern Cape Premier, Phumulo Masualle to extend the contract to run two frail care centres in the Metro.
The Premier issued the directive to Eastern Cape Social Development MEC, Nancy Sihlwayi on Thursday.
The intervention came after Sihlwayi said that her Department would be seeking a new service provider after the contract with Eastern Cape Frail Care PTY LTD, ended at the end of December.
The Frail Care Crisis Collective won an earlier court interdict against the Department of Social Development.
Newly appointed Premier's spokesperson, Sonwbo Mbananga said, "for now there shall be no movement of people from the frail centres in the province, and the contracts of service providers from that sector to allow time for a solution to be found. A solution that will involve consultation with families," he said.
Mbananga said the "focus is to ensurethat there is no loss of life as a result of any future movement.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Frail Care Crisis Collective, Mark Kotze said they welcomed the Premier's intervention.
"We are excited about this. It represents a victory not just for the families of people in Port Elizabeth but also for Gauteng. It represents victory for civil society and democracy," he said.
He said it was also not the end of the road for the Collective. "We want to do whatever it takes to try and avoid this sort of thing from happening again, so we will be submitting a proposal to the service provider to consider getting community representation on their board." Kotze said.
He added that he thinks it is an important thing because the hospitals are supposed to have boards with representation from civil society and these centres don't.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson, Bobby Stevenson, said "the fact that outside pressure had to be applied to ensure Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle reversed his MEC's stance on the frail care crisis shows how out of touch the provincial government is with the needs of a caring society."
He added that the Premier must fire Sihlwayi as she has demonstrated that she is not only out of step with the needs of the frail care centre patients but is totally at odds with civil society and even her own party.
"This incident highlights the important oversight role played by members of the provincial legislature, the media and legal aid. This, combined with the power of public outrage has been victorious in ensuring human rights has triumphed over injustice," Stevenson said.
The move by the Premier can after this week's damning revelations by the Health Ombudsman who revealed that 94 mentally ill patients had as a result of of the Gauteng Health Department's decision to cancel its contract with Life Esidimeni and move hundreds of people to 27 improperly registered NGO's.
Makgopa found this action to reckless and unlawful.
Erstwhile, Gauteng Health MEC, Quedani Mahlangu, resigned in the wake of the scandal, which could still see her face criminal charges along with other officials.
