Cape Town - With load shedding adding to the burdens on health care, a number of interventions have been put forward by the Department of Health and Wellness in response to the crisis of persistent rolling power cuts.
Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo tabled a R23.804 billion budget for the 2023/24 financial year on Wednesday, a decrease of R289.766 million on the previous financial year.
“For the first time, the department will be receiving a reduced allocation for its Equitable Share and Conditional Grants. When considering the impacts this has on the Cost of Employment (CoE), Goods and Services (G&S) and Transfers, the Department of Health and Wellness faces a budget shortfall of more than R1.5bn for 2023/24 and R2.1bn for the following financial year,” the statement read.
“Even though the Provincial Treasury has increased its provincial revenue fund allocation to the department to more than R1bn – which is more than four times the allocation for 2022/23 – it is not a tenable, long-term solution,” it added.
Some interventions will include the roll-out of inverters at 120 primary health-care facilities, the installation of solar panels on the roofs at 15 hospitals and the exemption of five additional facilities – Karl Bremer, Mitchells Plain, New Somerset, Victoria and George Hospitals – from load shedding.
The department said it hoped to add a further 14 facilities to the list.
In total, 10 hospitals – Tygerberg Hospital, Groote Schuur Hospital, the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, New Somerset Hospital, Mitchells Plain Hospital, Karl Bremer Hospital, Victoria Hospital, Mowbray Maternity Hospital, Wesfleur Hospital, and George Hospital – are exempt from load shedding.
Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said several hospitals on the City of Cape Town and Eskom grid were currently under investigation for exemption.
“The two electricity providers are currently investigating and assessing the exemption of these hospitals from their grids.
“The department is in regular contact with the two electricity providers on the progress, which is dependent on various impacting factors.”
Between April 2022 and February 2023, the department spent R100m on fuel supplies.
The department revealed that R2.59bn would be spent over the next three years on “maintenance and repairs, upgrades and additions, and refurbishments and rehabilitation of existing assets”.
The allocation of R30m will be used to “uplift the faces of health facilities”, it said.
The department said it would also be spending R72.4m on mental health services.