The Limpopo Department of Health

An interview with representatives of the Government on the state of the Department of Health in Limpopo Province raises questions about the SNC Government that go far beyond the Province of Limpopo.  X–Ray machines were bought five years ago, and have not yet been commissioned, because they do not have the required certifications.  In addition, they were purchased without Import Permits being required, and, presumably, without many of the other requirements of the public sector.  Thirty-four boilers are not operating in Limpopo hospitals, due to lack of maintenance.  The Government representative revealed that no long-term contracts for maintenance were entered into, leaving maintenance work to be completed on a break-down basis by ‘people who don’t know how to do the work’!  Medicines have been pilfered from the hospital pharmacies on a large scale, leading to huge shortfalls in necessary medications and other supplies.

The spokespersons for the Government were at pains to point out that the delay of many years in correcting these disastrous situations occurred ‘because we have to diagnose the cause before we treat the symptoms’!

This interview continues the long recital of ANC incompetence, admitted by ANC Government representatives at all levels, from the State President down.  This is no surprise to the long-suffering public.  The state of the country, in complete contrast to the rosy picture of wonderful ANC achievements regularly painted by the President in his State of the Nation addresses, is one of continuing and worsening disaster.  It is perfectly normal to meet people who are emigrating, after many years of hoping that the Rainbow Nation would start to achieve its potential.  These people, Black, Brown and White, have given up on the idea that democracy would bring improvement.  They are exporting the one thing that the nation cannot afford – the skills and experience of the most competent people.  They are leaving behind the incompetent and the corrupt, to carry on the new tradition that the ANC has established – the tradition of serving themselves, while leaving the public to suffer.  The writer has personal experience of having offered the services of a group of very highly qualified Management Consultants at no cost, to diagnose the problems and implement appropriate solutions that are comparable to the best in the world.  Apparently the Government is committed to the idea of ‘African solutions to African problems’!  The ANC Government does not want proper controls, the sorts of controls that practically every business employing more than five persons use as a matter of course.  One is tempted to ask why!  The only answer would seem to be that corruption has become such an integral part of the working of Government that it can not be rooted out.

There can be no longer any doubt that the present Government is competent only in one area – the area of looting the assets of the State for personal benefit.

The only question is: How long will the average voter continue to idolise the theft?