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Aaron Motsoaledi's beef with Zimbabwe resurfaces
13 Aug 2024 at 07:05hrs | Views
South Africa's Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has criticized Zimbabwe for its deteriorating healthcare system, which has led to an influx of patients into South African hospitals. Zimbabwe's healthcare has declined over the years, with the government struggling to provide basic medications, such as painkillers, in public hospitals, despite spending millions of U.S. dollars on other sectors of the economy.
Speaking at an African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee Lekgotla in Benoni, Motsoaledi, who was appointed Health Minister on July 4, compared some African leaders to a father who sends his children to eat at a neighbor’s house without consulting the neighbor. He expressed frustration over the situation, highlighting an incident where a Zimbabwean general practitioner sent a patient with stage 4 cancer to South Africa with a request for a pint of blood.
Motsoaledi criticized the practice of relying on neighboring countries for healthcare, especially when Zimbabwe has the potential to collect blood from its own population. He argued that Zimbabwe should seek assistance in developing the technology to manage blood donations rather than allowing its citizens to cross the border for medical care.
His comments come in the wake of a controversy involving Phophi Ramathuba, who criticized Zimbabwe's governance failures for overburdening South Africa's healthcare system. Ramathuba, who was recently elected as the first female Premier of Limpopo, faced backlash in 2022 for her remarks on the issue.
Motsoaledi also criticized African leaders who neglect their own health systems, opting to seek treatment abroad when they fall ill, leaving their citizens without adequate care. He called for an end to this practice, noting that it is prevalent on the continent.
The late former President Robert Mugabe was known for traveling to Asian countries for medical treatment, a practice that critics argue contributed to the underfunding of Zimbabwe’s healthcare sector. As a result, thousands of skilled professionals have migrated to other countries in search of better working conditions, further weakening the country's health system.
Speaking at an African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee Lekgotla in Benoni, Motsoaledi, who was appointed Health Minister on July 4, compared some African leaders to a father who sends his children to eat at a neighbor’s house without consulting the neighbor. He expressed frustration over the situation, highlighting an incident where a Zimbabwean general practitioner sent a patient with stage 4 cancer to South Africa with a request for a pint of blood.
Motsoaledi criticized the practice of relying on neighboring countries for healthcare, especially when Zimbabwe has the potential to collect blood from its own population. He argued that Zimbabwe should seek assistance in developing the technology to manage blood donations rather than allowing its citizens to cross the border for medical care.
His comments come in the wake of a controversy involving Phophi Ramathuba, who criticized Zimbabwe's governance failures for overburdening South Africa's healthcare system. Ramathuba, who was recently elected as the first female Premier of Limpopo, faced backlash in 2022 for her remarks on the issue.
Motsoaledi also criticized African leaders who neglect their own health systems, opting to seek treatment abroad when they fall ill, leaving their citizens without adequate care. He called for an end to this practice, noting that it is prevalent on the continent.
The late former President Robert Mugabe was known for traveling to Asian countries for medical treatment, a practice that critics argue contributed to the underfunding of Zimbabwe’s healthcare sector. As a result, thousands of skilled professionals have migrated to other countries in search of better working conditions, further weakening the country's health system.
Source - newsday
