JOHANNESBURG - Health Minister Joe Phaahla said contracts for major medical equipment at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital have not been finalised.
Phaahla was responding to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance (DA).
In a written reply to the DA last month, Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi revealed that the hospital's surgery waiting list had increased by thousands of patients.
Some of the patients on the waiting list were told that they'll be operated on in December 2026.
Minister Phaahla has attributed historic underfunding at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital for the hospital's ailing infrastructure.
Last month, Gauteng Health MEC Mokgethi revealed in her written reply to the DA in the provincial legislature that the hospital's waiting list had 11,194 patients - an increase from last year's 7,288.
More than 3,390 cataract patients will have to wait for a year to undergo surgery to regain their eyesight.
Over 1,770 hip and knee replacement patients are on a four-and-a-half-year waiting list, and more than 1,300 children will wait six months for surgery, while 243 patients with prostate cancer will wait 24-36 months.
Phaahla said that the academic hospital's patients who required radiation therapy were referred to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital for treatment.
The minister said that limited funding for staff salaries had also affected healthcare services.
Phaahla said there are also vacant posts that had not been filled because of the hospital's limited budget.
He said the hospital's management has annually presented budget requirements to the provincial budget bilateral committee but no additional funding was allocated.
