Gauteng Health has denied accusations that patients at Tambo Memorial Hospital have had their elective surgeries postponed until June 2027, amid claims by the DA that the delays are linked to maintenance at the operating theatre complex that began this year and was supposed to be completed already, reports The Citizen.
The party’s spokesperson for health in the province, Madeleine Hicklin, said the department had failed to honour its earlier timeline – after assuring the public on 25 March this year that the refurbishment would be completed within two months.
“Now patients have been told that all elective, non-emergency surgeries will only resume in June 2027.”
Hicklin said the party had tabled written questions to Health MEC Faith Mazibuko on the matter but that the responses did not match patients’ experiences.
“The MEC’s reply is riddled with contradictions….and she is insisting that surgical services have not been affected.”
Gauteng Health spokesperson Steve Mabona said elective procedures were being carried out daily under the Treatment Time Guarantees programme.
“The hospital continues to provide surgical services while essential maintenance work is being undertaken. The programme strengthens the management of surgical waiting lists and improves patient access to surgery through effective theatre utilisation and clinical prioritisation.”
Refurbishment on track for October
He denies the theatre complex was undergoing major building work, saying the maintenance related instead just to “the air handling units needed to maintain temperature, ventilation, and infection-control standards”.
He said Theatre 1’s refurbishment was completed in mid-June already, and it was fully operational, while Theatre 2 had also been completed and was expected to resume operations this past weekend. Work on Theatre 3 was due to begin this week.
He said the refurbishment project was on track “for completion by the end of October 2026”.
As evidence that theatre services were continuing, Mabona pointed to the hospital’s participation in the Mandela Day Surgical Marathon, for which it had pledged 47 procedures and completed 44.
“The remaining three could not be undertaken only because the patients did not honour their scheduled appointments.”
On orthopaedic surgery, he said elective arthroplasty procedures were on hold for reasons unrelated to the maintenance work.
“They are temporarily delayed due to the unavailability of a specialist – not because operating theatres are unavailable.”
Affected patients had been referred to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and would be contacted about rescheduling their procedures, he told The Citizen.
The Citizen article – Are surgeries delayed at Tambo Memorial Hospital? (Open access)
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