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 SA 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 Tuesday during a legislature sitting. “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,” DA MPL Jane 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 quality of care in all state health facilities. “The DA has for years warned that this culture of non-payment disrupts hospital operations, strains emergency services and pushes healthcare businesses toward collapse.” The motion instructed health MEC 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”.
Read Full Article on Daily Dispatch
[paywall]
Cowley warned that ongoing non-payment was placing relationships with private service providers at risk. “Many companies have threatened to stop doing business with the department of health due to long-term outstanding payments.
[/paywall]
