South Africa: Select Committee on Appropriations Concludes Successful Two-Day Oversight Visit to North West

The Select Committee on Appropriations has successfully concluded its two-day oversight visit to the Ngaka Modiri Molema District and Dr Kenneth Kaunda Districts in the North West Province.

The oversight visit focused on four projects that are funded through the Health Facility Revitalisation Grant (HFRG). The projects are: Mmabatho Nursing College, Bophelong Psychiatric Hospital, Marcus Zenzile Clinic, and the Potchefstroom Hospital Casualty Ward upgrade.

The HFRG is a direct conditional grant transferred by the national Department of Health to provincial departments of health to support infrastructure development, refurbishment, and upgrading of health facilities.

During its visits to the projects, the committee observed a number of concerning trends that cut across all four of the projects, including cost overruns, inconsistent reporting, under-expenditure of the grant, inadequate interdepartmental planning and coordination, as well as delays.

The Marcus Zenzile Clinic project has been delayed by three years, the Potchefstroom Hospital project by one year, while the Bophelong Psychiatric Hospital project is expected to delay for at least seven months.

The delays were are attributed to several factors, including interference by construction mafias, community protests, poor performance by contractors that often result in penalties, terminations, reappointments, and disruptions by community business forums.

As a way forward, the committee has directed the North West Department of Health to submit a comprehensive report on the progress of the four projects, including the geotechnical report for the Marcus Zenzile Clinic, which is being constructed on dolomitic land.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.