For a soundbite by Ms Desery Fienies, the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Social Services, please click: https://iono.fm/e/1733766
Parliament, Thursday, 29 October 2026 – The Select Committee on Social Services has expressed concern over delays in implementing recommendations contained in a Public Protector report on conditions at Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha.
This issue arose during the committee's engagement with the Department of Health on its 2025/26 annual report.
Committee Chairperson Ms Desery Fienies expressed her concern following the Public Protector’s visit to the hospital. “The Public Protector visited Livingstone Hospital on 22 October and indicated in an interview and raised concerns over delays in implementing the recommendations from a 2021 report on poor conditions at the hospital,” said Ms Fienies.
The Chairperson called on Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi to account for the delays and provide an update on interventions being undertaken to address the issues.
Responding to the committee, the Minister accepted the concerns and said the department is equally disappointed by the continued challenges at Livingstone. He explained that key functions that often contribute to service delivery failures include human resource management, infrastructure maintenance, procurement and financial management, which are provincial responsibilities.
He informed the committee that the national department had previously engaged with the Eastern Cape provincial government including the Premier, MECs for Health and Finance, heads of departments and other senior officials about the challenges affecting the province’s health system. The Minister noted that during those engagements, issues raised by the Public Protector had featured prominently.
“We also saw with disappointment when the Public Protector went there. We are planning that, when time allows, we will rush there and have a second set of meetings with the province and the Premier and the two MECs for Finance and Health to see if we can once more start from the beginning and re-discuss these issues,” said Dr Motsoaledi.
The Minister said the national department has embarked on a programme of engagements with provinces to address recurring governance and service delivery challenges.
The committee welcomed the commitment to revisit the province but stressed that recommendations made by the Public Protector must be implemented without delay to restore public confidence in health services. The committee stressed that patients and communities depend on public hospitals for essential healthcare services and that concerns relating to infrastructure, patient care and management shortcomings require urgent intervention.
The committee said it will continue to monitor developments at Livingstone Hospital and expects updates from the department on progress in implementing corrective measures.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SERVICES, MS DESERY FIENIES
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Name: Yoliswa Landu (Ms)
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E-mail: ylandu@parliament.gov.za
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