By Fahdia Msaka
Makhanda’s only specialist tuberculosis (TB) hospital has been abruptly shut down by the Provincial Department of Health, allegedly without any consultation with the community of Makhanda. When Grocott’s Mail visited the Temba Santa TB hospital on 12 July, the buildings were deserted. Security guards told the newspaper it was their last day, and that all the patients had been moved to Settlers’ Hospital.
A 21 June letter from the Provincial Health Department to staff members of the hospital said that the department “realised that the services for the community of Grahamstown are needed but at a scale that does not warrant the Department to continue with utilising the private property, when there is an alternative of a government property”. The Provincial Health Department says the TB patients will be accommodated in a wing at the busy Settler’s Hospital, and the 31 staff will also be moved to Settler’s.
Lunga Ntshebe, Chairperson of the Grahamstown TB Care Society said the closure of the hospital took the Society by surprise. “I recently saw in one of the WhatsApp groups a memo from the Department of Health saying that that they are moving and they are going to Settlers on the first of July, which I think is interesting considering that they have not consulted the public,” Ntshebe said.
Over the years, the hospital has treated about 100 patients at a time but has often been plunged into intermittent crises. In 2001, the buildings were found to be dilapidated and unfit for patients. In 2012, the only doctor left and the Department delayed the hiring of new nurses.
Ntshebe said the Department’s lease ended in 2019 and the TB Care Society has been trying ever since to renew the lease or get clarity on the situation from the department, without success.
Ntshebe said it feels as if the Society is being bullied by the department which has refused to communicate with the TB Care Society. “For instance, there were bills they were paying like water and electricity. They were supposed to inform us if they cleared these bills or not before they left, otherwise we will be left with a huge debt. They sent us no communication whatsoever,” Ntshebe said.
Ayanda Kota, Makana Citizens’ Front Secretary and an activist in the Unemployed Peoples’ Movement told Grocott’s Mail that the social movement and opposition party were very much against the closure of the hospital. “The thinking of the Health Department is always cutting down costs as part of austerity, but the decision remains illogical, out of touch, and doesn’t serve the community of Makana.”
The TB Care Society is now pleading for anyone to buy or rent the large Fingo property, saying it will surely be vandalised if it is left vacant.
Spokesperson for the Provincial Health Department, Yonela Dekeda, told Grocott’s Mail that the service was not closing, but only being relocated. Dekeda said the Department could not afford to pay the TB Care Society rent for the premises when there was “a persistent very low bed utilisation rate at this facility”, with only 10 patients staying there at the time of its closure.
“Allegations that the company that owns the building was not informed of the move are incorrect. The department had a month-to-month contract with the company, and the intention by the department to not renew the contract was communicated with the company, in advance”, said Dekeda.
(This article was updated at 3pm on 13 July to include comments from the Provincial Health Department).
