A three-year-old patient has been waiting 30 months for an important operation at a top South African hospital

The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital has deteriorated to such a level that 217 paediatric patients are currently awaiting a range of surgical procedures.

One of these patients, a three-year-old child, has been waiting 30 months for an important hernia operation.

Madeleine Hicklin, a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, said this reflects a widening crisis of delayed care at this hospital.

“Patients are left in prolonged pain and uncertainty while essential treatment is delayed,” Hicklin said in a statement.

This happened despite recommendations to establish a dedicated emergency paediatric surgical theatre list, along with anaesthetic and nursing support.

Gauteng Health MEC Faith Mazibuko explained that there are numerous reasons for the delayed surgeries at the hospital.

These include limited elective paediatric theatre capacity, emergency and neonatal surgical demand, anaesthetic constraints, and shortages of subspecialist expertise.

“While these explanations may be plausible, it is difficult to accept that a child should be left for three years with a life-threatening condition,” said Hicklin.

Patient neglect due to delays is not limited to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. It is a common issue in Gauteng hospitals,” she said.

A patient at Tambo Memorial Hospital has been waiting for over a year for hip surgery and is confined to her home due to severe pain.

This follows the hospital’s failure to secure a referral pathway for her and other patients awaiting elective surgery, while renovations at the facility continue.

Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital problems

The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, one of South Africa’s leading tertiary healthcare facilities, has faced numerous problems.

These include a mix of historical disasters, infrastructure decay, administrative gridlock, and funding shortfalls, which have created an operational crisis.

One of these is a fire that ripped through the hospital’s parking levels and several structural wings in April 2021.

Last year, the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, said that the remedial repairs were set to be completed on 26 August 2026.

However, in a recent Parliamentary reply, he said that the overall fire remedial works at the hospital are only 72% complete.

Another challenge highlighted recently was the high mortality rate for heart surgery at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

The mortality rate for heart surgery at the hospital in 2025 was 14%. There were 23 deaths out of 166 surgeries.

This compares to 19% mortality from heart surgeries in 2024, 21% in 2023, and 12% for July to December 2022.

The 14% mortality rate last year is very high. In leading overseas cardiac centres, mortality rates exceeding 2% to 3% would trigger an immediate formal inquiry.

The morbidity figures for heart patients are also appallingly high. It was 22% last year, and similar percentages in previous years.

Morbidity refers to complications or adverse outcomes arising from the procedure on heart patients.

Registrars in the Cardiothoracic Department have appealed to the Dean of the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Shabir Madi, for urgent intervention.