The DA began a week of pickets on Tuesday outside health department offices in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, the party said.
The protests were to show solidarity with those suffering due to the health care “meltdown” in both provinces, spokesman Mmusi Maimane and health spokeswoman Patricia Kopane said in a joint statement.
The DA would submit the same memorandum to both departments on Tuesday, they said.
The memorandum demanded the uninterrupted supply of all medication to health facilities, adequate doctor and nurse numbers for patients, and budgets properly managed to address building and equipment problems.
“While people suffer without the most basic healthcare, the ANC is demonstrating its narrow focus on internal politics ahead of Mangaung as it marches against freedom of expression today,” Maimane and Kopane said.
They said poor planning had led to tons of medication going to waste in both provinces.
There was also basic infrastructure, equipment, doctor and nurse shortages.
The DA would offer solutions over the coming days to resolve the health crisis affecting Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, said Maimane and Kopane.
“The solutions we are demanding to be put in place in these provinces will be based on successful strategies for public healthcare where we govern.” – Sapa