Gauteng health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko has rejected allegations that provincial hospitals are facing an overcrowding crisis, insisting the health department has the situation under control and that reports of patients sleeping on the floor are misleading.
Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Nkomo-Ralehoko said the department continued to manage capacity pressures and denied that a lack of beds was forcing patients onto hospital floors.
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“The problem is big, but we are managing it as the department of health. At no stage [were people] sleeping on the floor. I have not seen people sleeping on the floor, because even now we are buying beds. In fact, we are even taking some of the beds to the clinics.”
She added that 250 beds had recently been distributed in Vereeniging, noting that space constraints at smaller facilities sometimes created challenges, but systems were in place to address this.
Gauteng Hospital Bed Availability and Referral Systems
Nkomo-Ralehoko said the province’s referral system ensured patients were directed to hospitals with available beds, reducing unnecessary congestion at major facilities.
“When an ambulance [is on its way] to Bara [Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital], for example, and we know [they] don’t have beds [there], we … divert them to the nearest hospital with beds. I’ve clustered the hospitals so that we [can] deal with the problem you have seen of people sleeping on the floor.”
She maintained that technology played a key role in monitoring capacity across the province.
“So [with regard to] this problem of yours of overcrowding, I [now] have a referral policy. I have a dashboard here on the 15th floor [that tells me] where the beds are. It tells [me] every day which facilities have no beds.”
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Claims Patients Prefer Sleeping on Floors
The MEC went further, claiming that in some cases patients themselves chose to lie on the floor, including expectant mothers she had encountered during hospital visits.
“Did you know that when you are sick, you want to [lie] down? [Especially] when you are pregnant and want to deliver and are in pain, [you] go down and sleep on the floor. The patients will say, ‘Leave me — I want to sleep on the floor.’”
She also addressed footage of elderly patients seen on the ground, saying such images did not reflect a shortage of equipment.
“There was an old lady who was crawling. Did you know that the old lady had been given a wheelchair, but she didn’t want it? She was in pain, but she said she didn’t want to sit [down] … [The reason she was crawling on the floor] was not because there was no wheelchair available.”
Media Criticism and Hospital Photography Ban
Nkomo-Ralehoko accused journalists of shaping a narrative of overcrowding without full context and confirmed she had decided to bar media from taking photographs inside hospitals.
“That is why I always say I don’t want journalists in my hospitals, because you take photos of something you assume. You work on assumptions in most cases. You may be right in [some] cases, but sometimes [you are simply making] assumptions.”
She added that ambulances would not be sent to hospitals without available beds “unless you were malicious”.
Hospital Renovations and Funding Constraints in Gauteng
Addressing infrastructure, the MEC said renovations were under way at most provincial hospitals and that fewer than 10 of the 37 facilities required refurbishment.
“We are using the grant we get from the national government. The equitable share is very small — less than R2bn for infrastructure refurbishing and renovating — but we have already made a huge difference.”
She pointed to improvements at specific facilities as evidence of progress.
“Just go to Bertha Gxowa Hospital, and you will see the best hospital. Go to Mamelodi — it’s competing with private hospitals … So there are changes. They may not be as [impressive] as you [would like], but we are definitely getting there.”
Nkomo-Ralehoko said similar changes were taking place at clinics across the province.
“We are changing the face of our clinics. There are now doctors on site, not just doctors who come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There has been a huge improvement, but unfortunately … Gautengers don’t appreciate that. They don’t see it, but at some stage they will.”
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