The absence of the Defence and Military Veterans Minister from a recent Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) with the sorry plight of 1 Military Hospital a top agenda item has seen the meeting rescheduled – to an as yet unspecified date.
Notice of the rescheduling is contained in a Parliamentary Communication Services statement issued on 16 May on behalf of JSCD co-chairs Malusi Gigaba and Phiroane Phala.
In addition to the 1 Mil update, the JSCD was also set to be briefed by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on its investigation into corruption and fraud allegations tied to the hospital’s seemingly never ending repair and maintenance project (RAMP).
The statement has it Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga as well as her deputies were expected at the 16 May meeting “but both submitted apologies” with one deputy defence and military veterans minister present. Also supposed to be at the meeting was Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
The decision to “defer” the meeting, according to the statement, was in recognition of 1 Military Hospital’s “strategic importance” as regards welfare of military personnel and the need to establish “workable solutions toward finishing the project, as well as holding those responsible for the current state accountable”.
“The RAMP project has been identified by the committee as an important focus area of oversight, as the project has implications on the morale of the soldiers of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and also has implications on good governance and project management of infrastructure projects. It is in the context of good governance and the need to have functional state-of-the-art health facilities for our soldiers that this matter required the interaction with the executive authority of both the Defence and Police [ministries],” said co-chair Gigaba is quoted as saying in the statement.
Echoing him co-chair Phala is on record saying: “The committee felt it necessary that the Executive Authority be present in the meeting to ensure transparency and accountability, especially in light of the amount of money already spent on this project, which remains unfinished”.
No new date is given with the statement noting the JSCD has “committed” to the rescheduled meeting “at the earliest available time”.
Democratic Alliance (DA) National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Member of Parliament (MP), Nicholas Gotsell, a long time thorn in the flesh of Motshekga and the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) as regards the limited and, in instances, non-functionality of 1 Mil, again took up cudgels – not only to put the hospital on a working footing but also to bring an end to the apparent ongoing fraud and corruption.
He asked pointedly why Minister Motshekga could not use the available facilities to attend the meeting virtually. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic meetings have taken place virtually and the business of government has continued. Why can’t the Minister attend, whether she’s in Russia, Germany or wherever?” he wanted to know.
He also has a recommendation for JSCD Parliamentary staff – “check potential meeting dates against a calendar of international defence conferences and exhibitions”.
The Economic Freedom Fighters said it was concerned by “the persistent absence of Minister Motshekga from oversight meetings.” In a statement, the party said her reported international travel during this period suggests “a deliberate pattern of evading accountability for the ongoing dysfunction within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Department of Defence (DOD). The Chairperson’s actions, as a member of the African National Congress (ANC), further fuel suspicions of an orchestrated effort to protect a senior ANC member from scrutiny.”
The DA’s Spokesperson on Defence and Military Veterans, Chris Hattingh, said Motshekga’s absence for the 16 May meeting was “inexcusable” and called her “continued evasion of parliamentary oversight” bordering on “contempt”.
Hattingh noted that the RAMP project at 1 Mil commenced in 2005. Twenty years and over R1 billion later, 1 Military Hospital, meant to be the flagship medical facility for the South African National Defence Force, remains only 40% operational. The first and second floors, which should house the ICU, casualty units, theatres, and the pharmacy, are abandoned and unsafe.
“The indirect consequences of this failure are just as severe. In the 2024/5 financial year alone, R38.8 million has been spent outsourcing medical services that the hospital should be providing internally. The loss of medical specialists and the collapse of military health training capacity continue unabated. Most tragically, soldiers wounded in combat deployments, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, return home to a system that cannot properly care for them,” Hattingh said.
“Reserve force members and military veterans are also being refused service or turned away due to a lack of operational funding, funding that has been drained by the rising cost of outsourcing medical services. Those who have served this country with honour are now denied medical care because the institution intended to serve them has been crippled by mismanagement and corruption. This is not only unjust, it is criminal and unforgivable. Despite multiple forensic investigations and an ongoing Hawks probe into allegations of fraud and corruption, no arrests have been made and no official has been held accountable. There have been no consequences, no urgency, and no justice,” he said, demanding a full recovery plan for 1 Mil.
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