The Democratic Alliance welcomes yesterday’s announcement by KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Willies Mchunu, that he will be meeting government stakeholders to discuss the ongoing Oncology crisis in KwaZulu-Natal.

It is about time that the Premier woke up and took responsibility. It is unfortunate though that he will be relying on a hastily cobbled-together plan, put together by KZN Health MEC, Sibongiseni Dhlomo. This in a desperate attempt to turn this crisis around.

During the sitting of the provincial Health portfolio committee of the 4th of August, all the MEC could offer was a plan about a plan. It is therefore inconceivable that anything he has tabled as a solution will work in the near term, let alone the long term.

The MEC, in his response to recommendations by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) even went so far as to deny that anyone had died from cancer due to the KZN Health Department’s failure to provide adequate treatment to cancer patients.

This merely underscores his insensitivity and the lengths he is prepared to go to in order to downplay the tragic loss suffered by hundreds of KwaZulu-Natal families.

The Premier can no longer remain complicit in MEC Dhlomo’s failures and useless plans. He must fire him immediately in order to rid himself and his ANC government of culpability in the ongoing suffering and death as a result of no treatment being provided at Addington Hospital – a fact confirmed when the DA visited the hospital on Tuesday.

The DA will interact with the Premier next week in order to better understand how he intends to proceed when it comes to resolving the province’s Oncology crisis.

We remain committed to holding KwaZulu-Natal’s ANC government to account in resolving this crisis.

 

Issued by DA