Mpumalanga healthcare facilities powered by backup generators, assures MEC
The Mpumalanga Department of Health said it is well prepared for load-shedding.
During a question-and-answer session at the Provincial Legislature on November 3, the MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, told the house that all public healthcare institutions are not affected by the ongoing power cuts caused by load-shedding.
Manzini was responding to a question as to what impact the current ongoing load-shedding had on public healthcare institutions, and she responded as follows:
“All our hospitals and clinics have been installed backup generators. In case the power goes off because of load-shedding, the generators kick in and take over. All our public healthcare facilities aren’t affected by the current blackouts.”
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This means that hospitals such as Themba in KaBokweni, Shongwe and Tonga in Nkomazi, Barberton, Embuleni in Elukwatini, Matikwane and Tinstwalo in Bushbuckridge and Rob Ferreira in Mbombela are not affected in any way by load-shedding.
“Patients and community members continue to receive medical care even if there is load-shedding, because of these backup generators,” continued Manzini.
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By that time, the power utility, Eskom, was rolling out stage 2 load-shedding.
The ongoing power cuts have caused much concern for the general public, as small and township businesses have taken serious knocks with some temporarily closing shops.
The official opposition party in the legislature, the EFF, welcomed the department’s response to keep the lights on in all public healthcare facilities. The party said it was satisfied as long as these continued blackouts do not affect ordinary citizens in need of medical attention.
