No timeline to fix Charlotte Maxeke - Mkhize
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says it's unclear how long it will take to get Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg up and running again.
The hospital was temporarily closed after parts of its south wing caught alight last week.
It's understood the fire broke out in the dispensary store where all dry and surgical and medical items including gloves, PPE and catheters were stored.
The level above the storeroom, the level 3 visitors parking, also caved in.
Patients were evacuated to nearby health facilities.
Mkhize visited the hospital on Tuesday where he told media the timeline for repairs was the least of his worries.
"The issue is here that two things are important - a thorough assessment should be done by structural engineers to look at what part of the building is compromised, to what extent it is damaged," said Mkhize.
"The second most important issue is the safety of the patients who will occupy the place in future. We will not bring patients here until we are certain that the place is structurally safe and that the areas that were damaged have been corrected.
"The timelines are for the contractors that will come and assess," he added.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize arrives at #CharlotteMaxeke to do an assessment of the extent of the damage and to discuss the way moving forward pic.twitter.com/L8gNjhX43m
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) April 20, 2021
Firefighters on the scene have said that the hospital did not comply with safety regulations, making it hard to extinguish the blaze.
But Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Tasneem Motara denied claims that the hospital did not comply with safety protocols.
"At the time when this building was built it met the needs of the time. When we do maintenance and when we do repairs, and when we come in to address issues, we also make sure that we address them up to current needs.
"Inside, the hospital does have fire extinguishers, it does have a sprinkler that does work, it was tested," Motara said.
She added there was no need to demolish the structure.
"From the visual assessment that we've been able to do, the structure does not need to be demolished.
"What is going to happen is that the one floor or the slab has caved in is going to be propped to be able to allow SAPS (South African Police Service) to do their internal investigations," Motara explained.
A large portion of the staff was also redeployed to the various facilities to assist with the hospital's patients.
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