The Gauteng department of health has rejected claims of food shortages in public hospitals after images surfaced of patients allegedly being served only bread with margarine and cheese for lunch, an issue highlighted by DA health spokesperson Dr Jack Bloom.
Bloom said he found patients last week receiving “only a slice of bread with margarine and cheese” at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, raising concerns about patient nutrition and the impact of the temporary shutdown of one of the catering suppliers of the department, Masakhane Cook Freeze factory.
But health and wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko on Tuesday insisted the allegations were misleading and had caused unnecessary panic among families of patients.
“There are no patients starving in any of our facilities,” she told a media briefing. “Hospitals continue to provide three meals a day.”
The department has been scrambling to maintain operations after the Masakhane facility, which supplies meals to several hospitals, including Jubilee, Odi, Tshwane District, Bronkhorstspruit and Lenasia District hospitals, was shut down when E. coli contamination was detected during routine water testing.
The MEC said the contamination was found in water used at the factory, prompting an immediate halt to production as a safety precaution. No illnesses were reported.
Responding directly to the bread-only meal allegations, Nkomo-Ralehoko said the images circulating publicly showed a scheduled 4 pm snack, not a main meal.
“There is a snack time in hospitals at 4pm,” she said. “It was two slices of bread, margarine and an apple. Lunch and dinner were proper meals prepared in the hospital kitchen. I was in the kitchen myself when lunch was cooked.”
Hospital kitchens, she said, activated contingency plans, using ingredients transferred from the Cook Freeze facility to prepare meals on site.
The department said further testing was under way and results were expected by Friday. A new purification system has been installed, and reservoirs are undergoing deep cleaning as part of strengthened safety protocols.
For now, the MEC maintains, the situation is under control. “Patients are being fed. There is no crisis,” she said.
TimesLIVE
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