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Medical services for Presidency 'expensive'

Providing medical services for President Jacob Zuma, his dependants and predecessors is an expensive business, [s]News24[/s] reports. In reply to a parliamentary question, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the cost of running the [b]Presidential Medical Unit[/b] (PMU) in 2013/14 was just over R11.5m (to date). The unit is managed by the [b]SA Military Health Service[/b], a branch of the SA National Defence Force. There were currently 76 staff members, of whom 70 were medical personnel with the PMU, and 82 vehicles allocated. Costs for the year (2013/14) to date – R11 558 743 – included R9 967 188 for administration expenses and R1 591 555 for 'services'.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson David Maynier said: 'The PMU appears to have almost limitless resources.' Maynier said in a [s]Mail & Guardian[/s] report that the [b]One Military Hospital[/b], responsible for the medical treatment of the country's defence force members, was under severe staff shortages and this compromised the healthcare received by the members.

[link url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Presidential-medical-unit-costs-R115m-minister-20140404]Full News24 report[/link]
[link url=http://mg.co.za/article/2014-04-06-nearly-r50m-spent-on-presidential-medical-unit]Full Mail & Guardian report[/link]

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