A service provider appointed by the Department of Health has failed to complete Kopanong Hospital wards which were allocated a budget of R115 million. The wards were meant to be Intensive Care Units (ICU), to ease pressure and avoid congestion during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

According to Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, the wards are all incomplete because the appointed service provider was unable to finish the project and their contract was terminated. Nkomo-Ralehoko was responding to DA's Jack Bloom questions in the Gauteng Legislature. "The original plan in 2020 was to rapidly build 300 ICU beds for Covid-19 patients using Alternative Building Technology (ABT), but it fell away behind schedule and was never used. There was also controversy because the contractor failed to pay subcontractors. The department is reviewing the structure for possible use as office space for the district."

Bloom said the failed project has been a monstrous waste of money that should have been used to fix existing public hospitals. "It's yet another example of gross incompetence by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development, which routinely chooses poor contractors who fail to finish but still get paid huge amounts of money. As usual, corruption is suspected and the MEC says GDID is investigating the issue. The DA has yet to see any real consequences from these never-ending investigations," said Bloom.He added that nearly R2 billion in total was wasted money released for the Covid-19 pandemic, including R500 million on the abandoned Anglo Ashanti Hospital on the Far West Rand. "A complete management shake-up is needed to clear up the rot, but this will never happen under the ANC as they provide political protection to corrupt and incompetent people."