KZN cancer patients wait up to eight months for treatment as health experts abandon province

As KZN says farewell to the last of its oncologists, chilling revelations by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) show that people diagnosed with cancer who are unlucky enough to find themselves living in the crumbling province can wait up to eight months for treatment.

According to News24, the KZN Health Department has had to publicly admit that more than 150 cancer patients are currently awaiting treatment, but the provincial government has no real idea of when it’ll be able to start dealing with the issues around specialist healthcare – like oncology – that have arisen under its management.

Read: Gauteng health dept. using drivers, cleaners to conduct post-mortems since 2006

What the KZN government does have all the answers for, and likely directs most of its resources and time towards, is the ANC succession race, protecting Jacob Zuma and securing their place on the gravy train come December.

Responding to the SAHRC, the KZN health department admitted to its shortcomings and even came up with an idea or two as to how to fix them – not hard, considering your two main problems are lack of oncologists and derelict machinery due to gross ineptitude – but failed to give a timeline as to when the people dying of cancer will be given the treatment they need.

The SAHRC earlier released a report in which it accuses KZN health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo and his department of violating the rights of cancer patients by not providing them with the treatment necessary to save their lives; and, while the health department said it would comply with the commission’s report by appointing new oncologists and ascertaining the state of radiology facilities, it never committed to an actual timeline.

“The department has responded with their list of patients awaiting treatment which includes 18 patients at Addington Hospital and 161 patients at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, with 60 patients waiting up to eight months, another 86 up to four months and 15 patients waiting up to six months,” SAHRC spokesperson Gushwell Brooks said.

The department also refused to tell the SAHRC how many cancer patients have died due to the KZN government’s mismanagement, instead telling the commission to go have a look at the National Cancer Register for those stats.

While it’s clear that the KZN province is being run like a spaza shop for Zuma’s allies, it’s not clear how any self-respecting person would allow the criminally inept Dhlomo to continue in his current, or any position.

Read: Appalling state of mental health services across South Africa

That said, it has become common practice for the ANC to defend those who don’t give a rat’s ass about South Africans, the Constitution or the rights enshrined therein… they do it every day with Jacob Zuma and his cabal.

Both the South African minister of health Aaron Motsoaledi and KZN premier  — and Zuma’s biggest supporter – Willies Mchunu have come to Dhlomo’s defence, saying the health crisis in KZN is not the health MEC’s fault… just let that sink in for a while.