By Kaya 959 Reporter
Gauteng health officials say 141 000 half-litre bottles of sanitiser have expired, rendering them unusable by the department.
MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi was responding to questions put forward in the Gauteng Legislature this week.
Mokgethi revealed that R100 million was paid for 544 000 units of sanitiser to assist with the COVID-19 epidemic.
However, officials only used 392 000 units (74%).
Mokgethi says the remaining 141 000 units, which total 70 000 litres, cannot be used as they have expired.
Officials are currently storing the units at Kushesh Warehouse quarantine area, she revealed.
Mokgethi adds that the sanitiser had a limited product validity period of one year – 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.
Samples of the sanitiser were submitted to the Quality Assurance department in December 2020 to check the quality.
No feedback has been received to date.
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DA calls for accountability
DA spokesperson on Health, Jack Bloom says he is concerned that poor quality sanitiser was bought. He says sanitiser should normally be valid for at least three years.
“Why has the Quality Assurance department still not given a report on this after one year? Health workers often complain that they are not given sufficient sanitisers, which adds to the risks they face with rampant Covid-19 infections,” Bloom says.
He is calling for accountability on the matter and penalties for companies that have provided substandard supplies.
Bloom has also raised concerns about damaged equipment at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital.
He says a PET scan machine for diagnosing patients has been out of action for more than three weeks because of broken air-conditioning that causes it to overheat.
“It is most distressing that cancer patients face further delays in treatment because of poor maintenance at this hospital, which often results in broken machines and flooding that disrupts operations,” he says.
He adds that higher priority needs to be given to maintenance at the hospital otherwise more machine and building failures will occur and that will endanger patients.
