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It is highly doubtful that the new mental hospital in Kimberley, which is said to be 100% complete, will be operationalized any time soon, further inhibiting access to mental health care services in the province.

Documents made available at the tabling of the Northern Cape Appropriation Bill on 6thMarch 2019, clearly indicate that there will still be delays with the completion of construction and the appointment of staff in order to operationalise the facility.

Any commitments to have the facility up and running before the year is over, therefore do not speak to the facts.  

The Northern Cape 2019 Estimates of Capital Expenditure for the Department of Health shows that an amount of R47 million is set aside from the Health Facilities Management Grant for the “construction” of the mental health hospital in 2019/20. The amount decreases to R43 million in 2020/21 and then drops to R5 million in 2021/2022. At the same time, maintenance and repair for the mental health hospital from the Health Facility Revitalisation Grant is set at only R15 million for both 2019/20 and 2020/21, with an increase to R18 million in 2021/22.

It is interesting that the main allocation for the mental hospital is therefore still for construction, despite the facility supposedly already having been completed a year ago.

On top of this, provision of only R5,5 million was made for the start-up costs for the operationalisation of the new Kimberley mental health hospital in this financial year. It is further clearly stated that “the funding for the full operationalisation will be sought in the next financial year.”

So much about the new mental hospital simply doesn’t add up.

It is little wonder that Health MEC, Fufe Makatong, is dragging her feet in announcing yet another target date for the operationalisation of the facility. She is simply trying to prevent the truth from coming out before voters take to the polls on 8th of May.

The truth is that, after 25 years in government, mental health care is still not a priority for the uncaring ANC government.

Already what was supposed to be a state-of the art, first of its kind facility, is outdated before it has even opened its doors.

People in the districts are still without any mental health care services at all, state patients languish in prison because of a lack of beds at the old West End Hospital, and mental health patients at Robert Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley are kept in mixed gender wards.  

Unlike the ANC, the DA comprehends the seriousness of the growing incidence of mental illness and the urgent need to increase access to mental health care services.

Only change under a DA-led government will ensure that all people of the Northern Cape have access to quality mental health care services and that the complete health budget is spent on speeding up service delivery, not on covering up corruption by greedy officials and tenderpreneurs.

Issued by The DA