The Gauteng Department of Health has outrageously blown almost R20 million on building a wall at the new Boitumelo Clinic despite the existing clinic remaining in disrepair, posing serious health and safety risks to staff and patients. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng strongly condemns this reckless waste of taxpayers’ money. We demand an urgent independent audit of the Boitumelo Clinic project to assess spending and delivered value.
The startling information about the new Boitumelo Clinic was disclosed by Gauteng Department of Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, in a written response to a question tabled by the DA in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
According to Nkomo-Ralehoko, the construction project of the clinic was initiated fifteen years ago but remains at the infancy planning stage due to budget constraints. This project has had three contractors and several missed completion dates, the latest being 8 March 2021.
See the full reply here.
Following this response, the DA conducted an oversight inspection at the project site, and we can confirm firsthand that there is no visible clinic infrastructure besides a wall, demonstrating the lack of progress and raising serious questions about the whereabouts of the funds and who has benefited from them. We have also observed that the clinic is not included in the departmental plans for the 2024/2025 financial year.
Such spending on little more than a perimeter wall by Gauteng Health underscores significant financial mismanagement and potential corruption. It also demonstrates the complete disregard for service delivery by this department, which continues to underperform with little being done by Premier Panyaza Lesufi to hold it and its MEC accountable.
The DA demands a full investigation into the spending on the Boitumelo Clinic project to determine how nearly R20 million was utilised. We will also be petitioning the Gauteng Department of Health to urgently complete this long-overdue project.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would never have allowed this project to stall for as long as it has. As we have consistently demonstrated, wherever we govern, we would have delivered this project on time, within budget, and fully operationalised it to provide much-needed relief to our people currently relying on the old Boitumelo Clinic for essential healthcare services.