That some health facilities in the Eastern Cape are in a dire state is not surprising. For years, the province’s health department has been hopping from one crisis to the next.
A report presented to the Bhisho legislature this week, based on an oversight visit by MPLs to clinics and community health centres in the Buffalo City Metro and Chris Hani district late in 2025, paints an all too familiar picture.
Health portfolio committee chair Kholiswa Vimbayo said many of the facilities were operating under severe strain, amid deteriorating buildings, limited equipment, persistent staffing gaps and poor security which was compromising the safety of patients, staff and property.
Among the many problems identified were leaking roofs, broken windows, a shortage of essential medical equipment, faulty machinery, lack of a regular water supply, poor access for disabled patients and woefully unsuitable pit latrines.
The reality is that the clinics visited by the MPLs are a microcosm of the broader problems at health facilities across the Eastern Cape.
In our award-winning investigation “Terminal Health Care”, in 2020, the Daily Dispatch exposed similar problems.
We documented situations where patients had to sleep on the floor because of a lack of beds, while others spent the night queueing so they would be attended to the next day.
In an interview with the Dispatch before the 2024 national and provincial elections, premier Oscar Mabuyane admitted the health department had been “a nightmare and gave me sleepless nights”.
Clearly then, the problems identified by the oversight report are not new ones.
It is good that the MPLs have reminded us that the crisis is deepening. But that is not enough. The people of this province require urgent remedial action.
Many solutions have been proffered in the past. If officials acted on even a fraction of them, it would go a long way in swinging the pendulum.
Those charged with dealing with the problems must do so without delay. Strict deadlines and consequence management must be enforced.
Fingers will be pointed at the austerity measures that have hampered the provision of health care. But are we getting value for the funds being deployed by the provincial government?
How callous have we become to subject some of our own to horrible conditions when they are at their most vulnerable?
It can’t be business as usual when the dignity, hygiene and safety of patients are compromised.
We agree with the argument that, apart from the staffing challenges, our health system is being crippled by a failure of governance.
The time to address this failure is now.