Gauteng Health commits R100m to repair aging hospitals
The Gauteng Department of Health has committed R100 million in the current financial year to address aging infrastructure and critical equipment failures across public healthcare facilities in the province.
The investment focuses on restoring and replacing essential systems such as boilers, chillers, heat pumps, and air conditioners — many of which face heavy strain during the winter months due to increased usage and years of wear without consistent servicing.
Last month, several public hospitals experienced disruptions caused by equipment failures, including boiler breakdowns that affected the hot water supply.
Among the impacted facilities was Bertha Gxowa Hospital, where faulty hot water compressors have since been repaired and serviced.
Edenvale Hospital also experienced issues with its boiler system, which have now been resolved.
Pretoria West and Sterkfontein Hospitals dealt with leaking steam pipes and defective calorifiers — all of which have been replaced and restored to full function.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba confirmed that the department had contractors on standby to respond to infrastructure emergencies and restore affected services quickly.
“The reality is that we are facing critical equipment that is very aged, and part of the problem is due to not having been serviced appropriately for a long time. And this is one of the reasons why the department has now capacitated our own internal infrastructure unit so that it has the ability to implement the maintenance programs in-house,” Modiba explained.
He added that while some services may be delayed during the repair process, the long-term goal is to ensure more reliable and efficient operations across the healthcare system.
“All of this various machinery refurbishment is meant to ensure that we have seamless services across our service platforms, and we appreciate the fact that the public has been understanding, given that in some instances this results in delays on some of the services, but we have to maintain, we have to replace these equipment, and ensure that we sustain services in the long term.”
The department emphasized that this recapitalization program is a key part of a broader infrastructure stabilization plan aimed at reducing future breakdowns, improving maintenance capacity, and ensuring that essential healthcare services continue without interruption.
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