Dear Editor
The Oncology Department at Gqeberha’s Provincial Hospital is facing devastating chemotherapy shortages because the Eastern Cape Department of Health has failed to pay its pharmaceutical suppliers.
During a recent oversight inspection at Gqeberha’s Provincial Hospital it became apparent that patients did not have access to life-saving cancer treatments because the Department had failed to pay for the drugs.
Patients with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and other treatable cancers are now being treated with second-line medications that have a reduced efficacy, because medications that are globally recognised as the first line of treatment are no longer available to them. As a result, many patients have regressed, resulting in them being removed from transplant lists for procedures such as bone marrow transplants because they are now too ill to have the procedure done.
Imagine being told that your child, your parent, or your partner, could have been saved — if only the Department of Health had prioritised their life over paying its bloated administrative costs and millionaire managers.
How can we, as a society, accept this? We should all be outraged!
The Department’s ongoing financial mismanagement is no longer just a bureaucratic failure—it is a death sentence for individuals who might otherwise have had a fighting chance.
This cannot be business as usual. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for the Eastern Cape Department of Health to be placed under administration in terms of Section 100 of the Constitution.
Such intervention is not an admission of failure. It is a lifeline for a system on the verge of collapse. It is a call to action to protect the constitutional right to healthcare and, most critically, the right to life.
What is happening at Provincial Hospital is just one example of a healthcare system collapsing under the weight of incompetence, corruption, and misplaced priorities.
This crisis doesn’t just impact patients today. It threatens the entire future of our healthcare system. By failing to pay suppliers of essential drugs, the Department is exposing itself to even more medico-legal claims, potentially plunging it further into financial ruin. Claims are already a major contributor to the current crisis, and the failure to act decisively now will only deepen the spiral of dysfunction.
I have written to the MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa, demanding immediate payment to pharmaceutical suppliers to restore access to life-saving treatments such as chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. Furthermore, I have called for an urgent reassessment of the Department’s spending priorities. Every cent spent on administrative waste and non-core programmes must be redirected toward saving lives.
This is not just a healthcare issue; it is a moral issue. Every day of inaction costs lives, and we cannot stand idly by while patients suffer and die because of the Department’s gross negligence.
Regards
Jane Cowley MPL
DA Shadow MEC for Health
Neogermal
Did you knowthis about South Africa? South Africa celebrates its annual Heritage Day on 24 September. On this day, South Africans get together to celebrate their diverse cultures, traditions and beliefs. You’ll most likely find people enjoying a braai (barbecue) and dressed in traditional garb.
girl brownie
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?