The government should work strategically to protect its constitutional obligation to provide essential and emergency health services in rural areas, especially during difficult economic times, says a report published this week by the Rural Health Advocacy Project.
Government's debt and its impact on public spending is a concern for the the Budget Justice Coalition representing civic organisations, which says it hopes the finance minister will not use the social budget to fund the crises.
The generator at Kareedouw Hospital in the Eastern Cape has been broken for several weeks, leaving the hospital without backup power during loadshedding. But the Eastern Cape Department of Health says this is not important.