Durban — The DA also called upon Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla to continue engaging with the power utility to ensure that each and every hospital in South Africa will be exempt.
The party said the department must also ensure that all public health facilities are capacitated with working generators and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) equipment to ensure that all communities have uninterrupted access to health care.
“Due to the ANC government’s massive systemic failure to maintain and upgrade the country’s power-generating facilities to an acceptable degree, South Africa is facing years of rolling blackouts. Just this week, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s musing on the possibility of stage 15 load shedding sent the country into a tailspin,” said Michele Clarke MP, DA shadow minister of health.
Clarke said continued power supply for hospitals should not be at the behest of a power utility – it must be protected in legislation and regulations.
Last week, the South African Medical Association demanded that all public health facilities be exempted from load shedding as blackouts compromise the delivery of health care and can lead to unfortunate outcomes for patients.
Sama said it had noted with grave concern the conditions that health-care professionals found themselves working under during load shedding.
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