Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite by Dr Jack Bloom MPL
The Democratic Alliance calls on the Gauteng Health Department to speedily settle its R41 million debt to Johannesburg City Power as NGOs providing vital services at the Children’s Memorial Institute (CMI) suffer without electricity.
The CMI is home to more than 20 organisations that help the poor and vulnerable, including Childline South Africa which operates a 24-hour hotline, Sunlight Safe Home for abandoned babies, the African Child Feeding Scheme, a school for autistic children, and assistance for children with cerebral palsy.
They were cut off on Wednesday last week and are running out of diesel for their emergency generator.
The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital is supposed to pay for CMI’s utilities under a long-running agreement as the provincially run Johannesburg laundry is on its premises, but it has failed to do so since 2018.
It is utterly disgraceful that the Gauteng Health Department has allowed this situation to deteriorate for so long. They need to acknowledge their responsibility and pay the debt promptly.
Children should not have to suffer because of the department’s incompetence.
A DA-led administration would give a high priority to smooth financial management, with debts paid on time.