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- The Gauteng Department of Health says 11 health facilities were unreachable amid an ongoing dispute with Telkom.
- Spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the department was migrating its facilities to its Voice Network system.
- DA health spokesperson Jack Bloom said a family that could not reach a loved one hospitalised at Weskoppies Hospital in Pretoria.
The Gauteng Department of Health says the number of unreachable health facilities amid its mounting Telkom bill has reduced significantly.
Motalatale Modiba, the spokesperson for the department, said the 11 affected facilities included Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
Modiba said the department processed invoices due for payment despite its grievances regarding the "discrepancies" with Telkom.
"The department has processed the current invoices for payment before the end of this week despite the fact that its dispute in relation to identified discrepancies still stands. The issue of invoices that have descriptions of facilities that do not belong to [the department] is still being pursued by Telkom," he said.
Modiba added that the department was migrating facilities to the Gauteng Provincial Voice Network system operated by the eGovernment Department. He said the department expected the new service to reduce the cost of internal and external communication.
READ | A R623m headache: Gauteng hospitals bleeding millions due to negligence, malpractice claims
DA provincial health spokesperson Jack Bloom said the outages over five weeks ago impacted internal communications and severely affected families who still can't reach loved ones.
Bloom cited a message he received from a concerned family whose loved ones are hospitalised at Weskoppies Hospital in Pretoria, saying they were given a ward cellphone number, which went unanswered. They later learnt during their visit that the cellphone did not work.
"I think for families with family members at any of these facilities, it's a grave concern as there is no communication whatsoever," reads the message.
Bloom attributed the issue to a lack of funds.
He said:
Bloom said the poor ambulance service and immunisation of all children evidenced the department's incompetence and failure to pay bills timeously.
Modiba denied that the phone line issue had anything to do with the department's coffers.
