The Portfolio Committee on Health and Wellness, chaired by Hon. Adv. Ezra Letsoalo, received a comprehensive presentation from the research team on the analysis of the Department of Health’s first quarter expenditure report for the 2024/25 financial year. This regular review process is a crucial mechanism through which the Legislature evaluates the impact of public funds allocated to the Department of Health, assessing their effectiveness in delivering performance and public health service interventions.
The Committee focused on key priority areas, particularly the department’s financial control measures, including the ongoing challenge of medico-legal claims. The Committee commends the department for successfully reducing these claims from R18 billion to R11 billion this quarter—a notable achievement. However, the Committee will continue to closely monitor this area, particularly as the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) advances its efforts to address underlying issues.
The report also highlights concerns about irregular expenditure incurred by the department due to accruals, which adversely affects the delivery of certain health programmes. This issue is a significant concern for the Committee, which has urged the department to continuously develop strategies to prevent the recurrence of overlapping financial commitments and to demonstrate a stronger ability to allocate resources effectively in support of crucial programmes.
The Committee also noted the persistent challenge posed by mental health conditions and substance use, which remain significant contributors to South Africa’s burden of disease. Encouragingly, the department has surpassed its annual target for the number of beds available in regional hospitals for acute mental health care, demonstrating a positive step towards bolstering the province’s health and social system responses.
Another area of focus was the ongoing digitization of health records, with the Mamelodi Hospital in Pretoria showing significant progress. While challenges persist in other regions, the Committee is keen to monitor the department’s planned mitigation strategies to address these obstacles. The successful implementation and widespread functionality of a comprehensive health information system is crucial for overcoming significant barriers to reaching key targets, such as those in the HIV/TB treatment programme. These barriers include low adherence rates due to interprovincial migration, misinformation presented by users, and the complexities surrounding undocumented individuals accessing public healthcare services.
While the Committee is encouraged by the visible progress in many key priority areas, it will maintain ongoing oversight to continually assess these areas. The Committee is committed to monitoring and addressing the root causes of the department’s challenges to further enhance service delivery and improve public health outcomes across the province.
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