Dhlomo takes flak over oncology crisis
THE KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League has stopped short of calling for Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo’s dismissal, but has accused him of failing to deal with the ongoing oncology crisis at provincial hospitals.
Instead, youth league provincial chairperson Kwazi Mshengu said Dhlomo should face consequences for allowing the deadly crisis to persist.
The attack on Dhlomo started with the league’s provincial secretary, Thanduxolo Sabelo, using Facebook to express anger at the suffering of cancer patients as a result of the department’s failure to deal with a shortage of oncologists.
“The oncology (cancer) crisis in the Department of Health in KZN needs a political solution. Our people are dying and the department is helpless. This is a sad state of affairs and should not be allowed to continue, otherwise we will all be complicit in this madness,” read Sabelo’s post.
Responding to Sabelo’s post, DA leader Mbali Ntuli said “Fire Dhlomo”.
When approached yesterday, Dhlomo declined to respond to Sabelo’s comment, and instead said “go to those who wrote this for comment”.
A number of cancer patients have reportedly died in the province as a result of the shortage of oncology specialists and non-functioning machines in several provincial hospitals, including the King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban.
Mshengu said the league was furious with Dhlomo’s handling of the matter. He said the crisis could be attributed to under-performing political and administrative leadership.
“These things should have been anticipated a long time ago, and preventative measures should have been taken to mitigate against machines breaking down, and oncologists leaving the public sector,” he said.
Mshengu said ANC deployees to government should be accountable for whatever happens “in their areas of deployment”. “Definitely the MEC, HoD (head of department) and anyone involved in this issue should be held accountable.”
ANC provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli said the party had been trying to deal with the problem.
“Our provincial health portfolio committee is aware that part of the problem was the procurement of the new machines and servicing the existing machines. The department has been trying its level best to train more doctors in the category of oncologists,” said Ntuli.
The possibility of Dhlomo’s dismissal was not on the table as Ntuli told the media in Durban yesterday that the newly elected ANC leadership would shelve reshuffling the provincial cabinet until after next year’s general elections.