(Photo: Phillip Steyn/Facebook)
The DA is extremely concerned about reports that the government is considering building a new military hospital, while the state spent more than R1 billion over more than two decades in a failed attempt to restore 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria.
Maroela Media previously reported that despite significant investments made in the repair and maintenance of the hospital, the committee was informed that the Department of Defense and Military Veterans is reconsidering the viability of continuing the project and investigating the possibility of building a new hospital instead.
Chris Hattingh, DA MP and the party’s spokesperson on defence, says the party will not allow this situation to continue without accountability. He says taxpayers’ money must be thoroughly accounted for.
“We will insist on full accounting of every rand spent since 2005, a thorough comparison between the completion of the existing hospital and the construction of a new facility, and full accountability for those responsible for two decades of failure,” says Hattingh.
Two decades of drudgery and decay
The repair and maintenance program for 1 Military Hospital had its origin in 2005 after an overview visit by the portfolio committee on defence. The renovation work started in 2006. Twenty-one years later, however, the hospital is still largely unfinished and functions in practice as a building site.
Hattingh says the result is that the facility cannot provide the services expected of a military referral hospital.
“The real tragedy lies not with the building, but with the people affected by it. Servicemen, veterans and their families have had to deal with inadequate health care over the years due to indecision, poor management, insufficient oversight and a clear lack of accountability,” he says.
According to the DA, the prolonged decline also led to the loss of critical specialist capacity within the South African Military Health Service (SAMGD). Services that should normally have been available internally were increasingly outsourced to private providers.
Pressure on private providers is increasing
However, this outsourcing created new problems. Service providers have been complaining for some time about outstanding bills and delayed payments by the South African National Defense Force (SANW).
“The result is that soldiers, veterans and their families are increasingly caught between a broken military health system and private providers who can no longer continue without payment. This is simply unacceptable,” says Hattingh.
The DA says it is also worrying that the department is now apparently considering a new hospital without properly accounting for what happened to the existing project.
According to Hattingh, there is still no clarity as to why key objectives were never achieved, and why accountability is still lacking despite forensic investigations and repeated findings by the auditor general.
“It is particularly worrying that the department is now considering a new hospital without first explaining how more than R1 billion was spent on the current project, why milestones were never reached, and why no one has been held accountable so far,” he says.
Questions about money, priorities and affordability
The minister of public works and infrastructure himself earlier expressed his concern about the R5.2 million that is spent monthly under the total facility management contract. He urged parliament to determine whether value for money is really being obtained.
The DA says this warning cannot be taken lightly, especially in light of the SANW’s serious financial crisis.
“The military is currently in one of the worst funding crises in its history. Aircraft are already grounded for long periods of time due to maintenance backlogs, while naval vessels are docked for long periods of time. Critical capabilities continue to decline because money simply isn’t available.
“Where will the billions for a new military hospital come from? How long will it take to build? And what happens to patients in the meantime?” asked Hattingh.
Obsolete equipment and lost value
Another sticking point is that medical equipment purchased for 1 Military Hospital has meanwhile become obsolete before it could ever be used.
According to the DA, millions of rand worth of equipment has reached its useful life, while the hospital itself was never completed.
Hattingh says this is not only wasteful expenditure, but also a direct loss of healthcare capacity.
“South Africa’s soldiers and veterans deserve answers. More importantly: they deserve a healthcare system that works,” he says.