Hospital’s food shortage highlights persistent issue in South Africa’s richest province

The recent food shortage at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital in Gauteng highlights the persistent issue of food shortages at public hospitals across the province.

This is according to Democratic Alliance Gauteng Health spokesperson Jack Bloom, who was alerted to the hospital’s inability to provide lunch because its food supplier had been shut down due to the detection of E. coli in its food.

The hospital has just over 1,000 beds and a staff complement of over 4,000 people.

Bloom said that inspectors from the City of Tshwane detected the bacteria after conducting tests at the Masakhane Cook Freeze Factory.

The factory, based in Tshwane and which run by the provincial government, supplied roughly 8,000 plates of food a day to six hospitals and 17 Community Health Centres in Gauteng.

Bloom said that patients at Charlotte Maxeke would typically receive a nutritious meal of meat, vegetables, and a starch. However, because the hospital’s kitchens could only provide breakfast and dinner, patients were given a slice of bread with margarine and cheese for lunch.

The Gauteng Department of Health said that the plant was immediately shut down and the contaminated food quarantined when the safety risks were reported.

In addition to installing a new water purification plant, the factory will also implement continuous E. coli testing, ongoing staff training in food handling and hygiene, and batch testing of all food by private laboratories.

When asked about the shortage at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, Bloom told Newsday that the hospital had since found an alternative to the Masakhane Cook Freeze Factory.

A perennial issue

However, he argued that food shortages are a perennial issue at Gauteng hospitals.

“Food should be relatively easy to provide. It’s just chicken, vegetables, fish, starch, and meat. Hospitals shouldn’t be left without a food supply,” he told Newsday.

Bloom said in another interview that “food contracts have been problematic at the Gauteng Health Department for years now.”

“For some bizarre reason, the Department receives food from other provinces, such as Limpopo and the Free State. I think there’s corruption involved, quite frankly.”

“It shouldn’t be difficult for a hospital, especially in a highly urban province like Gauteng, with umpteen suppliers, to have nutritious food for patients to have at a hospital,” he added.

According to a Daily Maverick report, the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital experienced the exact same issue earlier this year.

After the publication was informed by a staff member that patients weren’t being fed due to a lack of food, it was stated that this was “due to the food supply company having compliance issues with their local municipality.”

The Gauteng Department of Health revealed that there had been similar issues at Chris Hani Baragwamath, attributed to non-payment of suppliers. It said this was due to the transition to the new financial year.

However, assured the public that not patient had gone without a nutritional meal.

Bloom pointed to this issue of non-payment in 2023, when he revealed that 26 out of the 34 public hospitals in Gauteng experienced food shortages that year, with some having to borrow from others due to the severity of the issue.

He said that George Mukhari Hospital lacked chicken, fish, and frozen vegetables for four months, while milk was unavailable from February to May.

The DA representative said that the reason for these shortages was due to suppliers not being paid, contracts expiring, or companies failing to deliver.

While some hospitals can make do, others are left struggling and unable to provide their patients with adequate food. For instance, the Kalafong Hospital only had a daily amount of R2,000 in petty cash.

This was far from enough to feed its 700 patients, risking hospital-induced malnutrition in the long run.

At the time, the Gauteng Department of Health said that it was addressing the issues using a multi-vendor approach. However, Bloom argued that this would not help if it did not address its payment issues.