Statement by Chris Hattingh MP – DA Spokesperson on Defence and Military:
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by revelations that government is considering constructing a new military hospital despite having spent more than two decades and over R1 billion attempting to restore 1 Military Hospital.
We will insist on a full accounting of every rand spent since 2005, a detailed comparison between completing the existing hospital and constructing a new facility, and comprehensive accountability for those responsible for two decades of failure.
The Repair and Maintenance Programme originated following a Portfolio Committee on Defence oversight visit in 2005 with the recommended refurbishment work commencing in 2006.
Twenty-one years later, South Africa’s premier military hospital remains a construction site and unable to provide the full range of services expected of a strategic military healthcare facility.
The real tragedy is not the building itself. The real tragedy is the impact on serving soldiers, military veterans and their dependants who have been forced to endure reduced healthcare services as a result of years of indecision, poor project management, weak oversight and apparent failures of accountability.
The prolonged deterioration of 1 Military Hospital has contributed to the loss of critical specialist capability within the South African Military Health Service.
Services that should have been available within the military healthcare system increasingly had to be outsourced to private specialists, laboratories, pharmacies and healthcare providers.
At the same time, service providers have repeatedly raised concerns regarding outstanding SANDF accounts and delayed payments. The consequence is that soldiers, veterans and their families increasingly find themselves caught between a dysfunctional military healthcare system and private providers who are understandably reluctant to continue rendering services without payment.
This situation is unacceptable.
Even more concerning is that the Department now appears to be considering a completely new hospital without first explaining how more than R1 billion was spent on the existing project, why key milestones were never achieved and why accountability remains largely absent despite forensic investigations and repeated Auditor-General findings.
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure has himself highlighted concerns regarding the approximately R5.2 million per month spent under the Total Facilities Management contract and has encouraged Parliament to scrutinise whether value for money was achieved. This warning cannot be ignored.
The proposal for a new hospital also raises fundamental questions about affordability.
The SANDF is currently facing one of the worst funding crises in its history. Aircraft remain grounded due to maintenance backlogs. Naval vessels spend extended periods alongside because of funding constraints. Critical military capabilities continue to decline because sufficient resources are simply not available.
Where, then, will the billions of rand required for a completely new military hospital come from? How many years will it take before such a facility becomes operational? And what happens to military patients in the meantime?
Perhaps most troubling is the fact that delays have already caused medical equipment procured for 1 Military Hospital to become obsolete before it could be utilised. Millions of rand were spent on equipment that effectively reached the end of its useful life while waiting for facilities that were never completed. This represents not only wasteful expenditure but also a direct loss of healthcare capability for those who serve and have served South Africa.
South Africa’s soldiers and military veterans deserve answers. More importantly, they deserve a healthcare system that works.
Father Abbot
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?
Saturn Extreme
Padkos – food for the journey [putt-koss] Food that you will pack and take on the road – some sandwiches, drinks, chips, fruit and biltong and you have your padkos!