Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has decried the lack of progress in the restoration of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital's (CMJAH) parking facilities.
According to DA’s shadow MEC for Health, Jack Bloom, staff and patients continue to struggle due to a shortage of parking bays.
Late last year, Independent Media reported that the hospital was working on a plan that included approaching neighbours such as the Emoyeni Conference Centre, Wits University, and KPMG for space for additional extra parking bays for patients and visitors.
The DA said initial commitments were that an additional 300 rebuilt parking bays would become available as of November 2022.
"Staff and patients continue to struggle with parking at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, despite promises that extra bays would be made available by November last year," Bloom said.
This week, Bloom visited the hospital after receiving complaints about the parking issue.
"Doctors and nurses have to come in super early to get the few open bays in the hospital basement, so most of them park far away at great inconvenience. It’s even worse for patients who are sickly and have to walk long distances to get into the hospital. I gave a lift to 70-year-old Salim Abraham (not his real name), who had to park more than a kilometre away and uses a walking stick. He drove from Eldorado Park to drop his wife off at the diabetes clinic," he said.
Bloom said the lack of parking at the hospital had also resulted in traffic congestion around the hospital.
"I was disgusted that the accessible parking at the province-owned Emoyeni Conference Centre is still empty when this could easily have been made available.
"The best solution would be to use the empty parking areas above where the fire (in 2021) started. I saw hundreds of bays that should already be in use as a new ramp has been built that gives access to them," he said.
Bloom has accused the department of health of gross incompetence.
"It seems there is gross incompetence in doing the speedy repair that would safely open up many of the underground bays."
"Previously the hospital had 1700 on-site parking bays, but now it only has 229 bays in the hospital and 400 nearby. This means there is a shortage of more than 1000 parking bays, causing misery as staff and patients hunt for parking every day," he said.
The Star