Jane Cowley

Dear MyPE At a time when our province is under siege by poachers targeting wild animals, indigenous plants and several marine species, critical vacancies in the enforcement and compliance components of the Department of Environmental Affairs have not been filled. The lack of environmental law enforcement is undermining our economy. The wanton plundering by organised poaching syndicates has a devastating impact on the province’s natural heritage and poses a significant risk to the … [Read more...] about Environmental Affairs buckles under staff shortages

Dear MyPE Call centres for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) across the Eastern Cape Province are still almost impossible to reach, either on the 10177 number for landline users, or the 112 number for cell phone users. Hospital personnel and private individuals from the Nelson Mandela Metro, as well as the Sarah Baartman, Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani districts, have repeatedly complained that they battle to get any assistance on these numbers. In a recent parliamentary question to the MEC … [Read more...] about Emergency Service numbers still going unanswered

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance welcomes the news that Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba and Head of Department, Superintendent General Thobile Mbengashe, will be called before the Special Tribunal tomorrow to answer for the Scootergate scandal. This R10 million contract has been plagued with irregularities, with those responsible ducking and diving and changing their tune from the moment the first video of the MEC parading up and down the East London esplanade on one of the scooters hit social … [Read more...] about Health MEC, HOD must account for Scootergate

Dear MyPE On the 25th of May this year, I put a motion with notice to the House in terms of Section 131 of the Eastern Cape Legislature Standing Rules of Order that called for the House to resolve that the Premier dismiss the MEC for Health. During a multi-party Whips meeting, the ANC objected to the motion being debated, based on faulty legal advice given to them that it is unconstitutional to debate a motion of no confidence in an individual member of the Executive Council. I sought … [Read more...] about Premier must choose competence over political patronage

The announcement this afternoon by Premier Oscar Mabuyane that the Department of Health’s Head of Department, Dr Thobile Mbengashe, has resigned should come as no surprise. The Democratic Alliance has repeatedly called for the Premier to remove Mbengashe as the HOD. The current Coronavirus pandemic has revealed the severe shortcomings and systemic lack of management of the Eastern Cape Health Department, which is on the brink of collapse. This collapse has happened under Mbengashe’s … [Read more...] about Health HOD’s resignation no surprise

Dear MyPE The incompetent ANC-led Eastern Cape Government has once again shown that it is still incapable of providing reliable Covid-19 data for the province. The latest consolidated reports provided to members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, are riddled with conflicting data, giving two very different sets of figures for active cases in the province. In the Western Cape, all citizens can access a daily Data Dashboard which is updated in real time and can drill down to … [Read more...] about The Eastern Cape’s Covid-19 Stats are still a mess

Dear MyPE Massive clinical and administrative staff shortages, access to water for only three hours a day and an emotionally exhausted frontline team – these are just a few of the many challenges facing the staff at Hewu Hospital in Whittlesea, near Queenstown. On a recent oversight visit to the hospital, I was shocked to discover how desperate staff shortages have impacted on the functionality of the hospital. Medical and surgical wards have had to be amalgamated, and these still only … [Read more...] about Hewu Hospital Hell

Dear MyPE People are dying in much higher numbers in the Eastern Cape during the Covid-19 period. Excess deaths recorded in the province between June and July paint a dismal picture of potentially under reported Covid-19 fatalities, with almost four times as many excess deaths than the official Covid-19 total. Excess deaths are defined as deaths which occur in excess of what would normally be expected, based on historical figures. If these deaths prove to be Covid-19 related, it could … [Read more...] about Excess deaths in Eastern Cape must be accounted for

Dear MyPE Hospital management and staff at the frontline of the defence against the raging Covid-19 pandemic, are having to find innovative ways to stretch meagre resources while the political leadership continue to claim they are handling the situation. Today I, together DA Shadow Minister of Health, Siviwe Gwarube, MP and Alfred Nzo Constituency Leader, Baxolile Nodada, MP, conducted an oversight inspection at the at Mount Ayliff Hospital and the St Patrick’s Hospital in the Alfred Nzo … [Read more...] about Hospital staff find innovative solutions in Health Department’s absence

How public private partnerships could lift EC out of the clutches of Covid-19 Dear MyPE The private sector can build a fully equipped field hospital with 1450 beds in just seven weeks. The public health department has yet to lay a single brick in order to build much needed district field hospitals despite planning them for three months. This is a spectacular failure on the part of the state and highlights the need for public private partnerships. It is quite clear that the private … [Read more...] about A Tale of Two Systems

Dear MyPE The Uitenhage Provincial Hospital has been severely underfunded, because the Department of Health has incorrectly allocated funds to it as a district hospital, when it is, in fact, officially gazetted as a regional hospital. This is an unnecessary bureaucratic nightmare in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Wards stand empty at Uitenhage Provincial, while other hospitals across the metro have become overcrowded battlegrounds against the disease. The hospital is supposed to … [Read more...] about Uitenhage’s Provincial Hospital severely underfunded

Dear MyPE Clinics across the province are stuck in limbo, with staff crying out for leadership, as the process of transferring clinics from municipal level to the provincial Department of Health drags on, eight years after the process started. Once again, a lack of decisive leadership and poor planning have left the department in a state of complete disarray. In 2012 the Provincial Department of Health embarked upon a provincialisation process to ensure that the 206 clinics that were … [Read more...] about Provincialisation of EC clinics must be reviewed

https://youtu.be/f2CL75ULvNY Dear MyPE The Eastern Cape Department of Health is in crisis. Patients are dying on floors in our state hospitals and frontline workers have the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in the country, and what does out MEC of Health, Sindiswa Gomba, do? Instead of focusing on the crisis at hand, our MEC of Health decided to launch the procurement of 100 1920’s-style scooters, parading up and down the East London esplanade, while her colleagues clapped and … [Read more...] about ‘Scootergate’ saga the last straw