Gauteng Health has been allocated R50.8bn for the 2019/2020 financial year, this being one of the largest allocations in the provincial government. However, says a Sunday Independent report, while this is a significant investment to the improvement of the province’s public health care system, it is also important to understand the socio-economic and political context of this province.
Although geographically smaller than other provinces, the Gauteng population is the largest in the country at approximately 14.7m. And, the report says, the reality is that most of the people in the province depend on the government for most social services, including public health care. Gauteng is also significantly affected by increasing migration patterns from other provinces, and other countries on the continent. Its highly congested nature impacts government services such as public healthcare – as the needs tend to exceed capacity at a given time.
The report says taking this into consideration, this financial year’s budget vote streamlines the resources of the department in a way that the five priority areas that have been identified for this current administration are adequately resourced and that the transformation of public health in Gauteng happens successfully.
[link url="https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-sunday-independent/20190804/281479278032258"]Sunday Independent report (subscription needed)[/link]