Health and Wellness
With reference to her reply to question 28 of 3 October 2025:
- (a) What specific items of state-owned equipment were lent to private entities during the COVID-19 period, (b) on what date was each item lent and (c) which private entities received such equipment;
- whether each item of equipment was returned to the Department; if so, (a) on what date and (b) in what condition, including whether any damage, loss or depreciation was recorded;
- (a) under what disaster management regulations, directives, approvals or written authorisations was the lending of public equipment to private hospitals permitted during the COVID-19 period and (b) who authorised such lending in each instance;
- whether copies of all applicable regulations, directives, approvals or authorisations can be made available;
- what documented evidence was considered by her Department to confirm that public hospitals had surplus equipment capacity at the time when such equipment was lent to private entities?
I am informed by the Department of Health and Wellness that:
(1)(a) The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness did not implement a formal programme through which state-owned medical equipment was systematically lent to private entities during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the national state of disaster declared under the Disaster Management Act, 2002, the health system operated under emergency conditions requiring rapid cooperation across public and private health establishments to safeguard patient care.
(b) Where temporary access to equipment occurred in exceptional circumstances to address urgent clinical needs, these decisions were operational and institution-based. The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness does not maintain a consolidated provincial record specifying the individual items, dates, or recipient private entities.
(c) Consequently, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness does not hold a centrally aggregated list of private entities that may have temporarily received access to equipment during the pandemic response.
(2) Yes.
(a) Where temporary access to equipment occurred, the equipment remained the property of the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness and was returned once the clinical need had passed. Dates of return are recorded through institutional asset-management processes.
(b) Facilities assess the condition of equipment upon return in accordance with established asset-management procedures. The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness is not aware of systemic loss or damage arising from such temporary arrangements.
(3)(a) Cooperation between public and private health establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic took place within the broader disaster response framework established under the Disaster Management Act, 2002 and associated national disaster management regulations governing the national state of disaster.
(b) Where temporary access to equipment occurred, such actions were authorised at institutional level by the relevant facility management in accordance with governance and asset-management processes applicable during the disaster response.
(4) Cooperation between health establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic occurred within the broader legal and governance framework applicable during the national state of disaster declared under the Disaster Management Act, 2002, together with the coordinated national and provincial health system response.
In addition, the actions of health establishments were guided by the constitutional obligations contained in Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, particularly section 27, which guarantees the right of access to healthcare services and provides that no person may be refused emergency medical treatment.
The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness did not issue a specific provincial directive solely for the purpose of lending equipment. Any temporary access to equipment occurred as part of operational cooperation between health establishments during the disaster response in order to safeguard patient care.
(5) Operational and clinical teams at facility level assessed service requirements and equipment availability during the pandemic response to ensure that any temporary cooperation between facilities would not compromise care for patients within the public health system. These operational assessments informed decisions taken under the exceptional conditions of the national state of disaster.
