Robbing Paramedics to Pay Bureaucrats: KZN’s Health Budget in Crisis

A chilling picture is emerging from the heart of KwaZulu-Natal’s healthcare system. To keep the lights on and pay its staff, the provincial health department is being forced to make impossible choices, quietly siphoning funds from the very services that save lives to cover a massive wage bill.

A draft budget submission has revealed a dire financial reality: the department is reprioritizing a staggering R1.056 billion away from critical goods and services and into employee salaries. This isn’t for new hires; it’s to cover the cost of existing “warm bodies.” Despite this drastic move, the department still faces a R1.3 billion shortfall for annual salary increases and allowances.

The Human Cost of a Spreadsheet

The consequences of this financial shell game are not abstract. They are felt in communities where every second counts. Among the programmes facing cuts is Emergency Medical Services (EMS)our ambulance services.

Committee member Shontel De Boer did not hold back, stating, “The reason why EMS is in such a sad state is due to most of the allocated budget being reallocated to compensation of employees.” She painted a grim picture of the result: ambulances sidelined by a lack of maintenance, critical shortages of medical supplies, and vehicles without life-saving ECG equipment.

This directly translates to longer response times when a heart attack strikes, a baby is on the way, or a serious accident occurs. The budget cuts are quite literally putting lives on the line.

A Department Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The acting Head of Department, Penny Msimango, acknowledged the painful trade-offs, noting that all eight of the department’s programmes are affected. She defended the R14 million taken from EMS as the “least budget amount” reprioritized, a claim that offers little comfort to those waiting for an ambulance that may not come.

Dr. Imran Keeka, the DA’s health spokesperson, provided crucial context. While noting that shifting funds within a budget is not unusual, he highlighted “cardinal sins” like diverting money from non-negotiable items. He pointed to a slight overall budget increase but warned that deep-seated issues like medico-legal claims and irregular expenditure continue to plague the system.

This budget crisis reveals a system buckling under its own weight. The noble goal of paying healthcare workers a fair wage is being pitted against the fundamental duty of providing those workers with the tools to do their jobs. When a department must choose between salaries and syringes, between wages and working ambulances, it is the patientsthe people of KZNwho ultimately pay the price.

{Source: IOL}

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