
Atlantis solar plant edges closer to completion
CAPE TOWN - Cape Town leaders have underscored that a solar plant being built outside Atlantis is aimed at driving down the price of electricity.
The R200-million project is set to be the first City-owned solar plant supplying renewable energy to the grid.
Officials have visited the site to inspect progress made since construction began in October last year.
Construction on the seven-to-ten megawatt Atlantis solar photovoltaic plant is taking shape.
A total of 2,400 solar panels are already in place.
The first power from this plant is expected to be delivered near the end of this year.
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eNCA
15 hours ago
- eNCA
Atlantis solar plant edges closer to completion
CAPE TOWN - Cape Town leaders have underscored that a solar plant being built outside Atlantis is aimed at driving down the price of electricity. The R200-million project is set to be the first City-owned solar plant supplying renewable energy to the grid. Officials have visited the site to inspect progress made since construction began in October last year. Construction on the seven-to-ten megawatt Atlantis solar photovoltaic plant is taking shape. A total of 2,400 solar panels are already in place. The first power from this plant is expected to be delivered near the end of this year.


Daily Maverick
20-05-2025
- Daily Maverick
Eastern Cape cancer patients face more delays in getting critical chemotherapy
Patients, doctors and medical personnel face more chemotherapy disruptions after the Eastern Cape Department of Health said it would settle outstanding accounts with pharmaceutical companies only on Friday. The struggle for chemotherapy medication in Nelson Mandela Bay's state hospitals and at Frere Hospital in East London is likely to continue until at least the weekend, after the Eastern Cape Department of Health confirmed it would pay pharmaceutical companies that are owed millions of rands, only on Friday. With stock running dangerously low, oncologists, pharmacists and nurses have had to make excruciating decisions about who receives treatment and who does not, with some oncology units left with just one vial of the potentially lifesaving treatment. Medical staff have spent hours phoning across the province in a bid to source the drugs, particularly for children, to avoid cancer patients' treatment being interrupted. Patients' caregivers, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had been turned away when bringing children for chemotherapy. They said they had been told they would have to make a second trip when the chemotherapy drugs became available. On Monday, the Eastern Cape MEC for health, Ntandokazi Capa, promised that outstanding bills would be paid immediately; however, patients have been turned away and treatments halted. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched an investigation into the repeated interruptions of cancer treatment for public healthcare patients in the Eastern Cape due to unpaid accounts. Dr Eileen Carter from the SAHRC said the Democratic Alliance (DA) had laid a complaint with them about the matter. On Monday, Capa's spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said R200-million had been set aside for the procurement of essential specialist medicines, including for cancer treatment. He said R43-million of this would be used to settle debts with pharmaceutical companies. However, on Tuesday he said this payment would probably only be made on Friday. Salomé Meyer from the Cancer Alliance said they were deeply concerned about cancer services in the Eastern Cape. 'Livingstone Hospital (this includes the two cancer units at Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital), now for the third time this year, does not have oncology medicines, and this is barely two months after the start of the new financial year. Should this trend of non-payment of invoices to suppliers continue, the lives of cancer patients will be impacted severely,' she said. Meyer said the head of the Eastern Cape Department of Health, Dr Rolene Wagner, had committed to meeting with them to find workable solutions for cancer care services in the province. The oncology units in Gqeberha previously ran out of chemotherapy medication in January after the Eastern Cape Department of Health's account with a supplier was suspended due to a delayed payment.. At the time, the medicines that were in short supply were Docetexal injection vials and anastrozole tablets. There was a similar shortage in 2023, which was blamed on a stock-out at suppliers. DM


Daily Maverick
19-05-2025
- Daily Maverick
Cancer treatment interrupted for hundreds after Eastern Cape health department fails to pay medication bills
Desperate doctors have been forced to make decisions about who receives chemotherapy and who does not, with some oncology units left with only a single vial of the potentially life-saving treatment. The cancer treatment of hundreds of patients, including children, has been interrupted after the Eastern Cape Department of Health failed to pay suppliers for chemotherapy drugs. The province's MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa, has promised that outstanding bills will be paid immediately, but patients have already been turned away and treatments halted. Desperate doctors have been forced to make decisions about who receives chemotherapy and who does not, with some oncology units left with only a single vial of the potentially life-saving treatment. Medical staff said that as their urgent emails went unanswered, they spent the whole of Sunday frantically trying to borrow, exchange or buy chemotherapy medication from private pharmacists to avoid interrupting treatment for hundreds of patients. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched an investigation into the repeated interruptions of cancer treatment for public healthcare patients in the Eastern Cape due to unpaid accounts. Dr Eileen Carter from the SAHRC said the Democratic Alliance (DA) had laid a complaint with them about the matter. 'We have opened an investigation into the allegations received. It will now be undertaken as per our complaints handling processes,' she said. 'This is no longer a cash flow problem. It is a gross violation of human rights,' said the DA's spokesperson for health in the province, Jane Cowley. 'This ongoing crisis is not only jeopardising the physical health of cancer patients but is also taking a severe toll on their emotional and mental wellbeing. 'How does one explain to the mother of a 14-year-old boy that his treatment cannot continue because the department's non-payment has led the supplier to close their account? How does a doctor respond to a heartfelt letter from a 33-year-old woman, diagnosed with a curable form of Hodgkin lymphoma, who is begging for treatment so she can raise her three-year-old child? Impossible choices 'These are the impossible choices our healthcare workers are forced to face daily. Meanwhile, senior officials sit comfortably in air-conditioned offices, use state-owned vehicles for private errands and continue to protect a bloated payroll of politically connected individuals in non-essential posts,' said Cowley. The Eastern Cape health department spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, acknowledged systemic problems in the public health sector, including the lack of permanent CEOs at Livingstone and Port Elizabeth Provincial hospitals in Gqeberha. 'But we are busy conducting interviews now,' he said. The hospitals last had permanent CEOs in 2018, when unions ran the management teams out of the facilities. Kupelo said MEC Capa had stepped in to ensure that R200-million was set aside for specialist medicines, including cancer treatment. 'The department wishes to confirm allocation of R200-million for the procurement of essential specialist medicines, including for cancer treatment. R43-million of this allocation will be utilised in paying pharmaceutical companies for cancer medicines that were owed from the last financial year. This payment is expected to be effected this week. 'Availability of all categories of essential medicines in all our health facilities is a priority, and every year, the department budgets over R2-billion for this purpose. We have strengthened our distribution plan, and our main medicine depots are strategically positioned to supply the entire province. These are the PE medical depot in Gqeberha and Mthatha medical depot in the OR Tambo district,' said Kupelo. He said cancer patients were receiving their treatment even though alternative medication had to be administered in some cases. 'This week, the department is expecting additional stock from Adcock Health, Fresenius (Kabi), Kiara and Macleods,' he added. He said two chief directors had been assigned to Gqeberha to accelerate service delivery at Livingstone and Dora Nginza hospitals. 'The MEC gave a clear message to her management. She was there. She received the problems. She has given them until the end of the month to implement the decisions they have taken. 'You don't want to run away from a big elephant,' he said. 'Hospital management knows that the lack of a district hospital makes things difficult in the metro, as specialist hospitals must act as a district hospital.'