Dear Editor.
Two patients at Frontier Hospital have tragically lost their lives due to continued electricity outages that have severely disrupted operations and compromised patient safety. Over the past weekend, a generator malfunction forced critical patients on life support systems to be moved, with some placed on oxygen cylinders.
Despite the best efforts of medical staff, two patients did not survive. Elective surgeries have also been indefinitely postponed due to the inability to conduct them on backup power alone.
The Enoch Mgijima Municipality has consistently struggled with service delivery. When these failures lead to the loss of lives, immediate intervention is necessary to prevent further tragedies.
Last year, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria underscored the constitutional obligation to ensure consistent access to essential services at healthcare facilities. The court found that interruptions in power supply fundamentally compromise the right to life and access to healthcare services enshrined in the South African Constitution.
This ruling asserts that the state, through its entities and service providers, bears a duty to uphold these rights by providing reliable power to public health establishments, reinforcing that access to life-sustaining healthcare cannot be jeopardised by service disruptions.
The ongoing crisis at Frontier Hospital mirrors the very concerns addressed by the court. With the hospital reliant on an unstable power supply, the resulting disruptions have tragically led to preventable loss of life, underscoring the urgent need for stable infrastructure to protect patients.
This case highlights the constitutional implications when critical healthcare facilities are deprived of reliable power, whether due to national load-shedding or local infrastructure failures. It underscores the importance of proactive and urgent measures to safeguard these institutions, ensuring they can operate continuously to meet the public’s constitutional right to healthcare and safety.
I have written to the MEC of Health, Ntandokazi Capa, and the Leader of Government Business in the Eastern Cape, Mlungisi Mvoko, urgently requesting that emergency funding be made available through Provincial Treasury.
This funding is essential to either provide Frontier Hospital with sufficient solar energy for an uninterrupted power supply or to connect the hospital directly to ESKOM to ensure reliable electricity.
This intervention must be viewed as an absolute priority, especially as the festive season approaches, a period that typically sees a significant rise in emergencies. Frontier Hospital, a major regional facility serving a vast catchment area, must be fully operational to handle the increased demand.
It is unacceptable that such a crucial healthcare institution depends on an unreliable municipal infrastructure for power, placing patients’ lives at risk.
The Democratic Alliance will continue to monitor the situation at Frontier Hospital closely. Healthcare services must not be compromised due to municipal failures. Our people deserve reliable, quality care.
Regards
Jane Cowley MPL
DA Shadow MEC for Health