Health minister treated at state hospital
WHILE a debate raged on about the possibility of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi receiving private treatment at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, where he has been admitted, his media team have assured the public that he is in the care of the hospital’s doctors.
“The minister is in a public facility and he is being treated by public doctors,” ministerial spokesman Joe Maila said yesterday.
He was admitted to the facility on Sunday after complaining of feeling unwell. “He wasn’t feeling well when he went there, and after they diagnosed him with pneumonia, they booked him in,” Maila said. The minister had never been diagnosed with pneumonia, he said, in what was the second stint Mot- soaledi has had in the hospital.
In 2013, he was at the hospital for a planned surgical procedure, the news of his use of the facility both then and now being hailed as a show of confidence in the healthcare service he oversees.
It is an important political point, critics said, one which he endorsed as good for those who had no money and himself.
The minister’s daughter was admitted to Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa in 2010, while his son underwent a procedure at Steve Biko soon thereafter.
“His condition will be reviewed within 72 hours,” Maila pointed out.