Johannesburg - All right, folks, let me take you on a ride through an electrifying drama that’s unfolding in Gauteng. We're talking about two hospitals – Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph – caught in a high-stakes showdown with the City of Joburg’s own electric guardian, City Power.
You see, it’s not your typical story of life and death within the hospital walls this time. You are thinking of a parallel story unfolding in Gaza; where hospitals find themselves in darkness, where the order of the day is an antonym of life – international rights groups cry out, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe as “hospitals risk turning into morgues”.
The similarity strikes a chord with electricity in the two Gauteng hospitals, knowing that its absence can turn a place of healing into a place of despair.
This is a story about life and power. electrical power, to be exact. The health-care facilities are teetering on the edge of darkness, and the culprit? A whopping R32 million debt that’s casting an eerie shadow over them, like the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
But hold on to your hats, because this isn't just any old debt collection story. Picture a scene reminiscent of Shakespeare, where towering institutions in health care take centre stage. The debt is the villain, lurking ominously in the background.
Now, here’s where it gets juicy. City Power isn't pulling any punches. It has served pre-termination notices. The notices are like electric swords ready to cut the lifeline between the hospitals and their vital electricity. It’s like a high-stakes duel but instead of swords clashing, it’s numbers and bills that are sparking and flying.
Imagine this: City Power isn’t just picking on hospitals. It has a laundry list of debtors, and the grand total? A jaw-dropping R10 billion! The electric sentinel is on a mission to collect. It is doing weekly cut-off operations that are almost like lightning strikes – swift and shocking.
Dr Arthur Manning, the man in charge of Rahima Moosa Hospital (a real doctor, not that Matthew Lani fellow), got a pre-termination notice – a piece of paper that might as well have been a storm cloud. It revealed a R7 million debt, threatening to plunge the hospital into darkness. But it wasn’t the only one. Helen Joseph Hospital got hit, too. Its pre-termination notice was even weightier -–R23m, enough to power a small town.
And if that’s not enough to get your heart racing, City Power extended its electric quest to Hursthill. There, it found another R13m in outstanding debts. It’s like a treasure hunt, but instead of gold, its hunting bills that need to be paid.
There you have it, folks. It’s a high-stakes electric tango, where power and debt are dancing a dangerous duet. Will the hospitals find their way back to the light in 14 days or will the darkness take over?
In this electrifying tale, the hospital’s future dangles by a thread as thin as copper wire.