The DA has warned that the continual financial slide of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health is likely to increase the risk of medicine shortages in health facilities – this after the department shifted funds from its crucial medicines and medical supplies budget, reports The Witness.
South African Medical Association (SAMA) vice-chairperson Dr Nikiwe Bikitsha, meanwhile, has also urged Treasury to intervene more directly in the department’s financial woes, warning of a potential collapse of services if immediate steps are not taken to stabilise the situation.
According to the department’s financial performance report ending September 2025, which was submitted to the provincial Portfolio Committee on Health, it is projecting a R490.7m shortfall in its this budget.
The department said accruals had accumulated largely because of its failure to pay suppliers within the 30-day period prescribed by Treasury, and “resulted in significant pressure on the negotiable goods and services items”.
To address this pressure, funding was “directed from a few non-negotiable items such as medicines and medical supplies, to partially fund five critical negotiable items”, it said.
While the projected shortfall is expected to be addressed in the upcoming provincial Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), committee chairperson Dr Imran Keeka warned that the department risks falling into a “vicious cycle” of budget shortfalls if the accrual trend is not reversed.
Risk to municipal services
As part of its attempt to stabilise its finances, the department resolved to slash its municipal services bill — which increases its risk of facilities being disconnected by municipalities.
Recently, uMhlathuze Municipality cut off services to government facilities when payments were not made. Services were restored only after an agreement was reached between the municipality and provincial government.
Keeka said the committee has asked the department for a report assuring members that municipal services to hospitals and clinics will not be disrupted because of this cost-cutting.
A severe health services crisis in the province appears to have been temporarily averted after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, in his MTBPS tabled last week, allocated an additional R1.390bn to KZN Health.
The Witness article – Budget shortfall may impact supply of medicines in KZN (Open access)
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