The Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg does not comply with safe building standards and needs to be replaced.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Ramokgopa "most areas" of the hospital contravene the Occupational Health and Safety Act because of the age and the dilapidated state of the structure.

She says that "the hospital has been subjected to conditional assessment and recommended for replacement. In the meantime statutory maintenance is being done."

The bad state of the hospital building is very worrying for the many patients it serves in large parts of the East Rand, including Boksburg, Benoni, Kempton Park and Germiston.

It is ironic that a hospital named after Oliver Tambo is in such a bad state as we commemorate his 100th birthday.

A new hospital would cost about R800 million and take many years to build.

This is what happens when maintenance is neglected for too long.

Patch up jobs are all that can be done now, and we must hope that this suffices to protect patients in a building that fails legal safety standards.

 

Issued by DA