The Gauteng provincial department of infrastructure development took over five weeks to appoint contractors after the Charlotte Maxeke hospital fire, despite the knowledge that Gauteng would soon face a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This information, provided by the department, comes as Gauteng hospital wards are expected to reach full capacity on Thursday, with West Rand hospitals at 107%.
Patients in these areas will have to be diverted to other parts of Gauteng, according to figures from the provincial department of health.
The department, which is responsible for the maintenance and care of Charlotte Maxeke hospital, is emerging as a central reason the 1,000-bed facility remains closed, as a blame game ensues between the provincial government and the City of Johannesburg.
Apart from the delay in securing contractors, it has already emerged that the department did not have plans of the hospital in its possession and appears to have taken an inordinately long time to procure an initial set of 19 fire doors that would allow the hospital to reopen in a phased manner.
Last week, RMB and the Solidarity Fund reached out to the hospital to offer assistance and within less than a week provided 19 fire doors, which are being installed at the hospital. This will allow the oncology and radiation block, which was not affected by the fire, to reopen.
Bongiwe Gambu, spokesperson for infrastructure development MEC Tasneem Motara, said in reply to questions on Wednesday that the department first appointed contractors to begin work on the hospital on May 25.
The fire broke out on April 16 and structurally damaged two of the hospital’s five blocks. However, the entire 1,000-bed hospital remains closed as even areas not affected by the fire have been declared non-compliant with fire safety requirements by the City of Johannesburg, which is responsible for issuing occupational health and safety certificates.
Among these requirements are 400 fire doors, which were found to be damaged by the fire or were not in working order prior to it. The doors are wider than the standard door and are custom-made.
The department is responsible for the maintenance of the building as well as for ensuring that it is fire compliant.
Motara said in an interview on eNCA on Monday that “over a period of time we have just neglected maintaining and ensuring that all our buildings are up to standard”.
While a set of plans of the hospital has now been recovered, it is incomplete and the building is undergoing 3D scanning to provide new plans.
Acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said on Monday that the reason for the building plans being incomplete was that part of the building had been designated a national key point during apartheid and the plans were therefore not public.
Gambu said she did not have a timeline for when the plan will be available. The full plan is necessary to draw up a fire plan. She also did not have a timeline for completing the repairs.
“A full scope assessment is currently being undertaken by the professional team and can only be confirmed on finalisation of the assessment.”
Plans were being made to expedite the manufacture of the fire doors. Initial progress had been slow because of cumbersome Public Finance Management Act requirements, she said.
Meanwhile, clinicians at the hospital have blamed the City of Johannesburg for requiring measures to be put in place that have never been there before in the hospital’s history.
They argue that the Gauteng health system is unable to withstand the loss of Charlotte Maxeke, which is placing untold pressure on other hospitals.
Prof Ashraf Coovadia, academic head of paediatrics and childcare at Wits University and a clinician at Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals, said that apart from the effect of Covid-19 on adult medical wards, neonatal and maternal care is being seriously compromised, as is oncology.
Coovadia, who speaks for Wits clinicians, said: “Our fear is that it is going to take weeks to months for the hospital to reopen. Even if takes two to three weeks, we are in a crisis now.
“The impact of the closure on patients is severe. The truth is we are not coping. There is a sense of frustration and dread over the chaos we are facing.”
The crisis comes as clinicians have warned since February that SA would face a third wave, given the slow vaccine rollout, and that Gauteng would be particularly vulnerable.
Wits vaccinology professor Shabir Madhi said it is inexplicable that in the midst of the crisis the City of Johannesburg is insisting on standards that have never been insisted on before.
“In 2010, in the lead-up to the soccer World Cup, Charlotte Maxeke was audited to assess whether it was up to standard to deal with a crisis. It did not score five out of five and yet was given the go-ahead without the perfect scorecard,” he said.
Johannesburg spokesperson Mlimandlela Ndamase said that it is not the city that is delaying the hospital reopening but the fact that the necessary work had not been done by the provincial government.
“The allegation that the delays are as a result of bureaucratic red tape on the side of the City of Johannesburg are denied. The compliance certificates are a final step once all other construction and related services are finalised. It is impossible to issue certificates prior to completion of works,” he said.
With Hajra Omarjee
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