Plans in place to renovate General De La Rey Hospital after flooding – Motsoaledi

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has attributed the flooding at General De La Rey Hospital in North West to poor stormwater drainage and climate change.

Motsoaledi visited the hospital in Lichtenburg this week after it was flooded over the weekend due to heavy rains in the province, leading to its temporary closure.

At least 30 patients were evacuated and transferred to nearby facilities.

The town’s storm water system is overwhelmed, resulting in the flooding of several wards in the hospital. The MEC has directed that, work should start immediately to drain out water & attend to damages.

— North West Health (@NorthWestDOH) January 6, 2025

General De La Rey Hospital flooded

Addressing the media at the hospital, Motsoaledi blamed climate change for the recent floods.

“Experts here tell us, especially the engineers I brought along, they say Lichtenberg got 10% of its annual rainfall in one day. That means 10% of rain that should have fallen in the whole year fell in one day,” he said.

The minister also pointed out that the Ditsobotla Local Municipality’s drainage system was an issue.

“There’s lots of things are not working in this municipality. So instead of the water getting drained, it found its way through the gate, flowed like a river into the hospital and entered through the doors.

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“As you can see, this is [the operating] theatre, but they tell me that the water here was ankle deep.

“Outside there in the terrain, just in front of the hospital, they say it was actually knee deep, which was a very big river and I think that’s exactly the problem that we’re dealing with,” Motsoaledi explained.

He disclosed that the national department of health is already working on refurbishing the hospital and awaiting approval for long-overdue upgrades.

“This hospital was built in 1941 [as] I understand, but plans are already at head office to be approved for a mayor renovation of the hospital.

“That was on even before the flooding, but it doesn’t mean that if that renovation was done, it was not going to flood [since] the sewerage system in the town is not working.”

Heavy rains hit more hospitals

In addition to General De La Rey Hospital, hospitals in Zeerust and Moses Kotane were also affected by the heavy rains. However, Motsoaledi confirmed they were cleaned and fully restored within hours.

“The one in Lihuruti is Moses Kotane. It was a very temporary thing. It’s stopped operating for only two hours. That means in two hours, the problem was solved [and] everything went to normal.

“It was also again, sort of a blocked sewerage system, which was overwhelmed by rain.

“I think from what the expert told me, the areas are seeing more rain than ever seen in a decade.

“I’m sure maybe the people were not even used to that, but in Moses Kotane, things are normal now because it took only two hours for everything to be cleared,” the minister concluded.

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