DA sounds alarm as Charlotte Maxeke cardiac unit reports high heart-surgery deaths

Gauteng opposition leaders say urgent answers are needed after Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital’s cardiothoracic unit reported a high heart-surgery mortality rate and the provincial health department acknowledged errors in previously supplied figures.

What the numbers show

The Democratic Alliance (DA) provincial health spokesperson, Jack Bloom, cited figures showing a 14% mortality rate for heart surgery in 2025, which the DA gave as 23 deaths out of 166 surgeries. The source reported comparative rates of 19% in 2024, 21% in 2023 and 12% for July to December 2022. The department also provided morbidity figures, with the reported rate for heart patients at 22% last year.

DA response and calls for accountability

Bloom said the mortality rate is “appalling” and asked the Gauteng health department and the University of the Witwatersrand to account for the deaths. He rejected the department’s figures after the department admitted to an earlier incorrect reply indicating a 72.5% decrease in mortality between 2023 and 2025.

“This is bigger than Life Esidimeni. There are patients there that could have been saved. It appears they are not being professional, they are unprepared,”

Bloom said, according to the report. The DA called for heads to roll at the department and at the hospital’s cardiothoracic unit.

Staff reaction and clinical concerns

The report said a private consultant, Prof Adam Mohamed, is said to have resigned from the unit in protest and concern about the increased mortality; Bloom praised him for taking a conscientious stand. Bloom also said patients often pick up sepsis on the wards after surgery and are “at risk of death all the time,” according to the report.

Responses from institutions

Wits University spokesperson Shirona Patel said:

“This is a matter that does not fall within the purview of the university,”

and added that queries should be directed to the hospital CEO and the provincial health department.

The Gauteng health department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said the department takes concerns about patient care seriously and is “committed to transparency, accountability and continuous quality improvement within specialised health care services.” He said a review identified a discrepancy in the calculation of mortality reduction figures and

“The department rejects suggestions of a cover-up regarding clinical outcomes.”

Charlotte Maxeke’s head of surgery, Prof Thifhelimbilu Luvhengo, defended the cardiac unit’s work, saying surgeons are well-qualified, according to the report.

What happens next

Bloom held a media conference calling on Wits vice-chancellor Zeblon Vilakazi to investigate the causes of what he described as an “appallingly high mortality rate” for heart patients at the hospital. The report does not include further details of planned investigations or outcomes.