The shocking and dilapidated state of a rural Eastern Cape hospital that was built in 1900 led to angry locals protesting outside the facility last week, complaining that their reports of the crumbling, leaking building, staff shortages and general neglect, were being ignored.
Paint peels from dirty and cracked concrete walls, and broken stretchers and wheelchairs litter the passageways of Greenville Hospital near Bizana, built by the Roman Catholic Church in 1900: 125 years later, little has been done to upgrade the place, writes Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik for GroundUp.
On Monday, about 100 angry people protested outside the hospital about the condition of the building and staff shortages, and accusing some workers of being drunk on duty.
Resident Lindile Zulu said there had been no renovations since the hospital was handed over by the missionaries.
“The conditions inside the wards are terrible. The walls are dirty, all of the buildings have cracks, and the grass is never cut. The staff buildings are a disaster. You can see the roof is leaking,” he said.
He added that over the years, numerous officials had promised to fix the hospital but nothing had come of the promises. He said staff were also struggling to manage the influx of patients from surrounding towns like Lusikisiki and Flagstaff.
In 2018, Kontinental Engineering was contracted to work on the paving, roads and parking, but had allegedly abandoned the job, without paying sub-contractors, Fezile Manyase, who was involved in the project, told GroundUp.
He said five sub-contractors, including his company, were still owed close to R500 000 in total. Last year, officials from the Departments of Health and Public Works promised them that another contractor had been hired to rebuild the hospital.
“They said that before the year ended, he would be on site – but that did not happen. We are in the dark… We want answers,” said Manyase.
Kontinental Engineering’s Dare Adediran said he could not respond to GroundUp’s questions because of an ongoing court battle with the government.
Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said hospital management had met the protesters to discuss their concerns. He said the buildings are due to be renovated but referred further questions to the Public Work and Infrastructure department – whose spokesperson Vuyani Nkasayi referred us back to the Health Department.
Manana did not respond to questions about why the contractor had left the site, or about budgets or timelines for the renovations.
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Spotlight: Little or no improvement in dire state of Eastern Cape hospitals