Attention broadcasters: English and Afrikaans audio clips from MPP Gerrit Pretorius attached.
With rolling blackouts continuing unabated, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness has taken urgent action to ensure health facilities are shielded from the worst effects of loadshedding. In a response to a DA parliamentary question, the Department revealed that it has already begun to roll out Phase 1 of its desperately-needed hybrid inverters project at 51 rural clinics across the province, with a further 71 facilities to be added in Phase 2. This initiative will provide a critical solution to the massive problems posed by loadshedding to patients and healthcare providers in the Western Cape.
Loadshedding has had a profound impact on health facilities, with many critical machines and tools depending on a continuous power supply to keep patients healthy and alive. While national government has exempted some larger hospitals from loadshedding, smaller clinics have been left to fend for themselves. These smaller facilities are lifelines for rural communities across the Western Cape, and represent the only source of healthcare for many of the Western Cape’s poorer residents. Many of these facilities rely on generators which can be unreliable, and for which fuel is difficult to acquire.
The hybrid inverters provided by the Department of Health and Wellness provide an efficient, effective and environmentally-friendly means to rapidly resolve this situation. The inverters will rely on solar and off-peak grid power to charge batteries which will keep critical systems functional during blackouts. The Department has also ensured that the inverters will be adequately maintained and insured against vandalism, and will be installed with minimal cost or time delay.
Responding to the news, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Health Gerrit Pretorius said: “I am overjoyed to see our rural healthcare facilities receive such desperately-needed assistance. During such dark times, it is refreshing to see the realisation of forward-thinking initiatives such as this one, which will make a genuine difference in people’s lives. While loadshedding remains a national problem that can only be solved by the removal of the ANC, this initiative proves even further that the DA-led Western Cape refuses to surrender its people to the failures of Cyril Ramaphosa’s government. This province continues to make positive progress, and the DA will ensure that no-one is left behind as it does so.”