Eastern Cape told to explain R90m debt to African Oxygen

The Eastern Cape department of health has been called to account over a R90m debt owed to medical gas supplier African Oxygen (Afrox), after the provincial legislature adopted a motion compelling urgent action to address the department’s mounting payment failures. Afrox supplies medical gases to state hospitals across the country and has taken several provincial departments to court in an effort to recover a combined R360m in outstanding payments. The Eastern Cape accounts for R90m of that total — about 25% of the national debt — making it the province with the highest amount owed to the company.

The motion was tabled and unanimously supported on January 27, during a legislature sitting. DA member of the provincial legislature (MPL) Jane Cowley said the resolutions would force health executives to explain years of delayed payments and introduce measures to stabilise hospital supply chains. “The resolutions force the executive to account for years of delayed payments and to implement concrete measures to protect patient care and stabilise hospital supply chains,” Cowley said.

“Some of these [debts to Afrox] reportedly date back to 2017, exposing deep failures in financial management and threatening continuity of care across the province. “The department has mismanaged its debt for almost a decade and this has impacted very negatively on the quality of care in all state health facilities,” she said. “The DA has, for years, warned that this culture of non-payment disrupts hospital operations, strains emergency services and pushes healthcare businesses toward collapse,” Cowley said.

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The motion instructed MEC for health Ntandokazi Capa to ensure the formation of a team to secure uninterrupted medical gas supply. Capa was also directed to draft and table “a comprehensive, time-bound payment plan for all outstanding health invoices, clearly setting out funding sources and payment milestones”. Cowley warned that ongoing non-payment was placing relationships with private service providers at risk.

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