Gauteng government says should the Charlotte Maxeke hospital fire be found to be the result of human error, heads will roll.
The blaze broke out in a storage room, which spread to other parts of the hospital.
The incident left questions about the lack of working fire hydrants and the safety of patients at state hospitals.
The fire was contained overnight and there were no fatalities or injuries reported.
With the hospital temporarily closed, there was a mid-week assessment visit by authorities.
Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire brings safety of government buildings back to the spotlight:
Gauteng Health Spokesperson, Kwara Kekana, says almost 800 patients were transferred to 17 other health facilities.
“We discharged 25, so these were assessed as to whether they could go home, and we proceeded to do that, this is a part to try to alleviate pressure and just to ensure that we take as less patients as possible, but of course, it’s a bit of a low numbers.
So we then transferred those patients across the province in Gauteng, Nelson Mandela Children hospital was one of those facilities, and thankfully it is quite close by, natal ward shifted to that area as well, which was quite key, some services shifted to Chris Hani Baragwanath, Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Sterkfontein for mental health care users as well,” adds Kekana.
Gauteng Government Spokesperson, Thabo Masebe, says authorities are still assessing the full cost of the damage.
“When Minister Mkhize went there he was given a figure of R40 million, we are still awaiting a full assessment to determine the damage caused by the fire,” Masebe says.
But he declined to take questions on the state of safety equipment at state hospitals.
“I don’t want to get involved in the issues of fire hydrants and we glad that the fire was finally extinguished, The Joburg fire department assisted by Ekurhuleni and other municipalities were able to battle to extinguish it.”
Masebe insisted that the safety of patients is always a priority.
“We do everything to ensure that patients are safe, and that is why even in the event of fire, we were able to move them to safety, we will do everything to make sure that patients are safe in that hospital and every other public hospital.”
Masebe says operations are expected to resume early May.
“As we know, the bigger part of the hospital was not damaged by fire, so that part will re-open, we will start moving the patients back during the 1st and 2nd of May, and by the third of May, we will resume most services of the hospital.”
Investigations into the blaze continue.
