DA in Gauteng wants investigation into Nasrec field hospital contract

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng wants an investigation into alleged overspending and irregularities in the Nasrec field hospital contract.

The party claims that the hospital has cost the government R150 000 per patient and that the Auditor-General has found procurement irregularities.

The field hospital treated 1 658 patients since it was set up in April last year. It was initially a 500 bed COVID-19 isolation and quarantine site but later extended to 1 000 beds.

The facility was closed down on Sunday and has been decommissioned.

 Nasrec field hospital decommissioned:

DA Gauteng Health Spokesperson Jack Bloom says the money spent on the Nasrec field hospital is wasteful expenditure and that it should be probed by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).

“A lot of the Nasrec facility was used for quarantine and isolation and those people could have been treated much cheaper at a hotel. As far as the real patients who got oxygen were 287. The overall cost for the Nasrec facility was more than R250 million, it works out at R150 000 per patient at the facility. I really think the contract needs to be i
investigated,” says Bloom.

“The NASREC facility, which cost R150 000 per patient, could have been closed even earlier if the extra beds at existing hospitals had been completed by November last year as promised by Premier David Makhura.” – @JackBloomDA

READ MORE HERE: https://t.co/9n4qM0nnyy pic.twitter.com/aZkq527cqS

— DA Gauteng (@DA_GPL) February 28, 2021