Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
17 December 2024 | 17:35 CAT

Cancer patients face worsening delays as the Gauteng Health Department struggles to resolve its backlog. File photo: TimesLIVE

Thousands of cancer patients in Gauteng face an uncertain future after the Gauteng Health Department admitted to returning R250 million allocated for critical cancer treatment to the Provincial Treasury. The Sunday Times revealed this startling development through court documents filed in the Johannesburg High Court, further exposing systemic failures in the province’s healthcare system.

The Cancer Alliance’s Salome Meyer expressed deep concern during an interview with Radio Islam International, highlighting the department’s inability to spend the funds and the implications for desperate patients. “The delays and excuses have been ongoing for two years, and now we find the money was handed back without even a request for a rollover,” said Meyer. Treasury regulations dictate that unspent funds must be returned unless a rollover is formally requested, a step the department failed to take.

The unspent funds come as a devastating blow to the more than 3,000 patients awaiting life-saving radiation treatment at facilities such as Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital. According to Meyer, the backlog has worsened, with many patients either advancing to untreatable stages of cancer or succumbing to the disease while waiting for care.

“The department claims the lists are dynamic, but this simply means patients disappear from the list because their condition deteriorates or they die,” Meyer explained. The department’s planned outsourcing agreements, set to begin in January 2025, are insufficient to address the crisis. With an estimated capacity to treat only 20 patients per month, clearing the backlog of thousands will take years.

The delays, Meyer noted, stem from poor management, staff shortages, and outdated procurement processes. “There are three radiation machines in storage that will only be operational in 2026 because the bunkers for those machines aren’t even at foundation level,” she said. The department’s excuses, including claims about high outsourcing costs, were dismissed by Meyer as unfounded given existing outsourcing contracts implemented during COVID-19.

While the department promises to use its current R260 million allocation by March 2025, scepticism remains high. With countless lives on the line, Meyer concluded, “it’s a waiting game”-one cancer patients cannot afford.

Listen to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim with Moulana Habib Bobat and The Cancer Alliance’s Salome Meyer here.