Crisis not dampening hospital care
Helen Joseph Hospital and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital are surviving on water tankers amid the Gauteng water crisis
At Rahima Moosa hospital, tankers supplying water to the hospital, which has been under fire since the South African health ombudsman in March 2023 published findings of an investigation into the state of the facility after a video showed pregnant women lying on the hospital floor.
The ombud’s investigation revealed that the facility was severely overcrowded and had a shortage of staff.
But the chief executive of Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Dr Arthur Manning, said the water supply at the hospital was manageable because the facility was receiving water from tankers supplied by Rand Water.
“The hospital uses approximately 200 000 litres a day. We have 13 000 litres of water that is coming out of our two boreholes and water tankers that are being delivered to us so we have been managing with this supply so far,” he said.
This comes after News24 reported that staff and patients at the hospital were bringing their own water bottles to flush toilets, and had to walk to other sections of the hospital to get drinking water.
Reacting to this, Manning said the report only focused on one side of the hospital that is not connected to a reservoir. This was why patients and staff had to make use of the adjacent building’s toilets.
“The out-patients ward and the paediatric admin offices do not get water because they are not connected to a reservoir so we asked patients to use the [adjacent] building for toilets and so forth, that is why they were seen walking with water bottles — it’s not that there is no water at the hospital,” he said.
Rahima Moosa has been experiencing an inconsistent water supply since September because Hursthill 1 reservoir was critically low.
There are three water reservoirs — Dunkeld, Brixton Tower and Hursthill — in the area supplying Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals.
Helen Joseph and its surrounding areas had experienced lower water pressure because the Dunkeld reservoir’s water levels were low.
But the Gauteng health department said that since September, Helen Joseph has had good water pressure because it was being fed from an alternative line through the Brixton Tower.
“The Gauteng department of health facilities have reservoirs and some also have boreholes as part of the backup system when there are supply disruptions. However, the system becomes strained when the interruptions are prolonged,” said department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba.
Meanwhile, half of the 37 public health hospitals in Gauteng are exempted from load-shedding, while all Gauteng hospitals and most of its clinics have backup generators in case of power supply interruptions.
Although some reservoirs have back-up water storage available during power outages, the constant power cuts mean pumps do not get the continuous flow of water to maintain it. As a result, it creates complications because the reservoirs are not kept full while the treatment plant operates, or the final product gets distributed while the treatment plant is off, according to water treatment solutions company Nu Water.
Amid the water shortages at health facilities, the Gauteng health department said Pholosong Hospital in Ekuhuleni, is erecting an additional reservoir with a capacity of 500 000 litres.
It is expected to be completed by the end of October this year and will increase the total capacity to 660 000 litres..
Staff at Joburg’s busiest public hospitals say that any water short
‘We are here to treat patients, we are not in charge of reservoirs ... so what do we do as a hospital?’
ages experienced at their facilities should be placed at the feet of Rand Water, and not at healthcare facilities.
“We are here to treat patients, we are not in charge of reservoirs — we are clients of Rand Water and they are failing to provide us with water, so what do we do as a hospital? We just have to adapt to these circumstances we are faced with,” a nurse at Helen Joseph told the Mail & Guardian, echoing the sentiments of other healthcare providers the M&G spoke to.
Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has instructed water management agencies in Gauteng, including Rand Water, to implement “water shifting” to address the water crisis in the province.
“In line with the minister’s directive, Rand Water is implementing water shifting as a management tool to balance its systems,” said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.
“Simply put, water shifting means moving or shifting water from one system to another to ensure a balanced and equitable supply of water to municipal customers and residents.”
Commenting on what water shifting would mean for hospitals in
Gauteng, Manning said it is inevitable because of South Africa’s scarce water supply and hospitals will be forced to adapt.
“If that is one of the options that will help us manage water better then we have to understand that it is an inevitable part of managing our resources but we must also educate and make sure we are not losing water through infrastructure.”
Earlier this week, Actionsa said it had written to the water and sanitation minister for more information about the duration of the water shifting, an estimation of when water systems would be balanced, and which areas in the Gauteng metro would be affected.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said the government needs to take steps to ensure that hospitals and surrounding areas should be prioritised during the water shifting schedules.
Jack Bloom, the DA’S representative for health in Gauteng, told the M&G that more attention needs to be placed on the water pressure at the hospitals.
“Hospitals have to adjust like we all are, but more attention needs to be placed on the water pressure and the maintenance work being done at these hospitals to ensure water supply,” he said.