Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba has lashed out at health officials over delays in completing the renal dialysis unit at Letaba Hospital, saying she is being “set up”, and vowing to fire them.
During an oversight visit on Tuesday, Ramathuba, accompanied by health MEC Dieketseng Mashego, expressed concern over slow progress on the project, which is expected to improve access to life-saving dialysis services in the Mopani district.
“This contractor should have been terminated long ago. I would have terminated him long ago and he would have had a bad name in the whole country, we were going to meet in court,“ Ramathuba said.
She confronted deputy director-general Dr Palesa Dibakwane-Ntjana, instructing her to act decisively against the contractor or be fired.
“DDG, tell the contractor the premier means business. If you are not terminating the contractor, I will terminate you,” she said, saying that she does not have direct authority to cancel contracts herself but would hire people who would.
She accused officials of undermining her office, saying: “You are setting me up. It won’t happen.”
Ramathuba said if she were forced to defend such action at the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration), she would present evidence of the impact of the delays.
“I will bring letters from doctors complaining about these delays, and even death certificates of people who could not access renal dialysis,” she said.
She questioned how residents could commemorate Freedom Day while lacking access to critical healthcare.
“Yesterday [Monday] we were celebrating Freedom Day. How do you celebrate freedom when you can’t access renal dialysis?” she said.
The premier said she and Mashego were concerned about the delays, but had now been assured that work on the renal unit would be completed by the end of July.
She vowed to return to the hospital to assess progress and ensure the project is delivered on time.
“The public must know who is failing them, it’s not Dr Ramathuba. I care about the people of Limpopo,” she said.
TimesLIVE
Bulelani Nonyukela
www.timeslive.co.za
