Between South Africa’s Public Procurement Bill and the National Health Insurance Bill, health sector procurement in the country is set for a major shake-up – all as a landmark court decision recently reaffirmed the Constitutional imperative that public procurement must be conducted in a transparent way. Alicestine October takes a deep dive into the accelerating currents of procurement reform.
The head of health in the Northern Cape – Dr Dion Theys – appeared in the Kimberly Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Theys who was appointed as permanent head of health in July this year, along with two co-accused were released on bail of R5 000 each. This was Theys’ second brush with the law – albeit in different courts – in just over a month after his appointment. Despite these developments and an outcry among some health stakeholders, the Northern Cape health department has not yet taken decisive action against Theys. Refilwe Mochoari reports.
Though budget cuts impact the health system’s ability to provide quality services to the 85% of people in South Africa estimated to rely on public healthcare, women are doubly burdened by these cuts owing to their unequal reliance on public health services. Women have a disproportionate risk and prevalence of HIV/AIDS and more differentiated health needs, including those for reproductive and maternal health. This Women’s Month is an opportune moment to reflect on how much we spend on healthcare and the quality of that spending which can be powerful measures to help create a public healthcare system that narrows the gender gap, writes Matshidiso Lencoasa.
Round two of the Presidential Health Summit centred on getting closer to realising National Health Insurance, but the question of how to do this remains murky. Ufrieda Ho reports.
The Free State has a new Health MEC – Mathabo Leeto, who is also provincial treasurer of the ANC in the province. She recently replaced Montseng Tsiu. Refilwe Mochoari spoke to Leeto about her plans for the department and asked opposition parties and nursing unions about this move and their expectations for health services in the Free State.
In his first state of the province address, the new Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana said the province will no longer be used as the breeding ground for corruption. Refilwe Mochoari asked him about this and the fate of the head of the provincial health department, who is charged with contravening the Public Finance Management Act.
Spending on public sector infrastructure over the 2023 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) is estimated at R903 billion and the health sector accounts for 5% of this. The well-documented poor maintenance and oversight of projects, also in the health sector, will require close monitoring of trends across the public sector, particularly where procurement and contracting is concerned, writes Zukiswa Kota.
Two senior officials have returned to the Northern Cape Department of Health following suspension, but the department remains without a permanent head. Opposition parties and trade union DENOSA have expressed concern over the impact the leadership instability is having on healthcare services in the province. Refilwe Mochoari reports.
Fiery nurse activist Fikile Dikolomela-Lengene says she has had a front-row seat to corruption unfolding in Gauteng’s public health sector and she is not afraid to speak out. Biénne Huisman chatted to Dikomela-Lengene, who calls herself ‘Sr Fikx’ because she wants to influence change in the public health sector.
The position of MEC for Health in Gauteng is one of the most important, and probably one of the toughest jobs in public sector health governance in South Africa. Spotlight sent ten questions to the new Gauteng MEC for Health Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko. Here are her answers.
The North West Health Department was placed under administration in 2018 following several governance failures and allegations of fraud and corruption that resulted in widespread service delivery protests. Now, almost four years later as the period under administration is set to come to an end, Nthusang Lefafa asks what has improved under administration and what has not.
Gauteng is a province of immense potential and tragic recent history. It is a province that has allowed politics to overwhelm the interests of patients, argues Sasha Stevenson in a talk delivered as part of a lecture series hosted by the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at Wits University.
