I am Prof Adam Mohamed, the Head of Internal Medicine at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and I’ve started this petition to the Gauteng Provincial Government and relevant departments calling on them to exempt all hospitals in Gauteng from loadshedding. In the Western Cape Province hospitals are already exempt from loadshedding, surely the same must follow for hospitals in every province - including Gauteng.

Loadshedding puts a strain on both hospital equipment (which are already aged and undersupplied) and patients’ lives. Emergency surgeries cannot be performed timeously because of it. As it is, after COVID, the number of admissions and severity of disease have increased exponentially putting a further strain on an already stretched healthcare system. 

UPS batteries in Neonatal Care Wards and other ICUs do not have enough time to recharge between power cuts during loadshedding, which is fatal for infants and the most vulnerable of patients. Even where hospitals do have generators they cannot power the entire hospital so outpatients for example, who sit in an area that is not considered an emergency area, will sit in total darkness requiring healthcare professionals to use their cellphone torches in order to examine them.

During loadshedding a hospital like Charlotte Maxeke burns through between 800 and 900 litres of diesel a day. This translates into an expenditure of between R5 million and R8 million a month - which all comes out of the provincial health budget. This means that there is R5 million to R8 million less to spend on patient care. 

The supply of water is also affected during loadshedding, which has a direct impact on hygiene and an increase in the spread of infections. The staff morale at a hospital like Charlotte Maxeke (after COVID and the hospital fire) is at an all-time low. Add to that loadshedding, and the healthcare system can be safely said to be in a state of disintegration.

Streets with Ministerial homes do not get loadshed for security purposes but hospitals that are used to save lives do. Does that mean that the lives of healthy politicians are more important than those of the sick public?  

The government couldn’t prevent COVID deaths but surely it can prevent unnecessary loadshedding deaths. Gauteng Provincial government exempt hospitals from being loadshed! Stand up and be counted and urge your ward councillors and politicians to assist patients in getting the best care possible.