Struggle stalwarts Adelaide and Oliver Tambo must be turning in their graves in shame.
This as a hospital named in their honour, Adelaide and Oliver Tambo Regional Hospital, has again run out of water.
As if that were not embarrassing enough, the hospital is in the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela municipality.
It is public knowledge that in Mbizana, Eastern Cape, the hospital has been experiencing a water crisis for more than a year. But this has previously been vehemently denied by the provincial department of health.
No water to take pills
But early this month, the crisis worsened so much that patients cannot even bathe or take their pills.
A patient who asked to remain anonymous told Sunday World that she had not taken her medication because of a lack of water.
“I’ve been here for more than two weeks and I haven’t taken my medication. The taps are dry and my water jar hasn’t been filled with water. At some point a nurse brought a glass of water but I couldn’t drink it because it was just dirty,” complained the patient.
She said the linen on the beds was rarely changed.
Fear disease will spread because of unhygienic conditions
Another patient complained that they have been exposed to infections.
“We’re in danger of contracting multiple diseases because the nurses are jumping from one patient to another without washing their hands. We haven’t bathed for days. The toilets have run out of water as a result we don’t flush them. The wards are already smelling because the toilets are not being flushed,” said another patient.
The Spokesperson for the Department of Health in the Eastern Cape, Mkhululi Ndamase, dismissed the patients’ allegations.
Spokesperson says it’s just a minor problem
“This is a minor problem and it’s only happening for the second time this year otherwise the water tankers have been delivering water to the hospital,” said Ndamase.
“The department has augmented the sometimes interrupted water supply by regularly ordering water from external suppliers. The department has been ordering between 400 000 and 500 000 litres for our reservoirs so that we won’t have a situation where taps run dry.
“This water is then put into our reservoirs to ensure that there is a steady supply of water to the hospital. The water pressure during outages is not as powerful as it usually is when there are no disruptions in the water supply by the municipality. The water supply has been intermittent, and not a case of there not being water at all.
“It is untrue that patients can’t take their medication, can’t use toilets and can’t take baths because of the intermittent water supply.”
He said the department will buy water from local suppliers until the municipality resolves its water supply challenges.
The local municipal leaders are aware of the problem
Municipal spokesperson Thamsanqa Cwili said the municipality was aware of the problem.
“We’re aware of the water crisis but I don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix this problem. I also haven’t bathed due to the same problem.”
The hospital originally known as St Patrick’s Hospital was renamed Adelaide and Oliver Tambo Regional Hospital in 2020.
This was a tribute to Oliver and Adelaide Tambo.
At that time, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane referred to it as a place of healing for the people of Mbizana and Alfred Nzo.
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