The Democratic Alliance is alarmed by the pain and delay that 34 528 patients suffer while waiting for surgery in Gauteng public hospitals.
This figure is from the end of January this year according to Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.
The largest waiting list is 6764 patients at the Steve Biko Hospital, followed by the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (6232), George Mukhari Hospital (5354), and 3315 patients at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital.
Other hospitals with large waiting lists include the following:
Sebokeng Hospital – 2870 patients
Helen Joseph Hospital – 2623 patients
Mamelodi Hospital – 2016 patients
Kalafong Hospital – 1861 patients
Tembisa Hospital – 1404 patients
Leratong Hospital – 762 patients
Thelle Mogoerane Hospital – 502 patients.
I suspect this is an undercount of the waiting lists as many operations were cancelled when the department ran out of budget towards the end of the financial year on 31 March 2025.
Furthermore, figures are only given for 17 out of 37 hospitals in Gauteng.
Waiting times differ widely for certain types of surgery; for instance, it is only one to two months for a cataract removal at Leratong Hospital, but two years at the Mamelodi and Yusuf Dadoo hospitals.
While patients at Kalafong Hospital wait five years for hip surgery, they will only wait three to six months at the George Mukhari Hospital.
The MEC blames the long waiting times on “high turnover of patients to Gauteng province”, and “burden of trauma that take preference over elective cases.”
She also admits that load-shedding and water shortages lead to cancellations and postponements of surgery.
In May last year the MEC claimed that the surgical waiting lists had been reduced from 38 000 to 24 000, so this progress has been reversed.
I estimate the real waiting list for all 37 hospitals is probably about 40 000 as the budget cuts and staffing shortages have worsened the situation.
It is appalling that so many patients suffer pain and anxiety waiting for surgery, often for years rather than months.
While surgical blitzes can temporarily bring the number down, the DA is pushing for effective use of the R66 billion budget to ensure adequate staff and equipment to permanently reduce the waiting lists.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would hire top-class hospital CEOs and cut the rampant corruption – this will result in money being available to improve patient care.