VEREENIGING. – As South Africa and the Vaal face a potential third pandemic wave, concern and outrage are growing at delays in completing a dedicated Covid-19 medical facility and new wing (at a cost of R350 million) at the Kopanong Hospital in Duncanville, Vereeniging.
The Kopanong Hospital and the proposed Covid facility fall under the Gauteng Province Health Department.
However the buildings that can be seen on the hospital grounds is not the Covid-19 facility, but a hospital wing to increase capacity.
A doctor linked to the Gauteng Provincial Government facility said work was already 70% complete and the delay in completion was due to a change in contractors.
A new contractor was awaited in terms of established procurement practice to complete the work, the doctor said.
But the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) reacted angrily yesterday at delays in completing the Covid facilty inside the hospital, as well as the completion of the extra wing, saying the “people of the Vaal deserve better” from the Gauteng Provincial Government.
“There is simply no excuse to justify the non-completion of this facility at a time when South Africa, the Vaal and indeed the entire world are in peril from another Covid-19 wave,” said Klippies Kritzinger, GTCoC CEO.
Kritzinger, who serves on the Regional Covid Command Council in Sedibeng, urged the Provincial Government Health MEC to intervene directly to facilitate rapid completion of construction.
New buildings erected near the main hospital building have also sparked great concern amongst the public that the project has in fact ground to a complete halt and that the R350 million budgeted for the much-needed facility has been wasted.
* Kopanong Hospital’s CEO, Mmaselloane Kgomojoo stated previously that this hospital wing of about 300 beds is being built behind the existing hospital to increase capacity. The project is still regarded as an essential steppingstone to improving the state of health in Vereeniging and surrounding areas. The new wing will double the capacity of the old hospital.
