The Commission is aware of the deplorable conditions of public health care in South Africa and has received numerous health care related complaints at its provincial offices. In response to this crisis, the SAHRC Chairperson in 2019 conducted a provincial visit in Free State to observe and address some of these health challenges.

 The Chairperson is currently conducting a follow up visit to some of the facilities visited in 2019 to observe if there has been any redress. The Chairperson’s visit further aims to strengthen cooperation between the SAHRC with the Department of Health in the realisation of access to health rights within the province.

The Commission has identified the following issues to be quite concerning in the province:

1. Critical human resource shortages including doctors, nurses, specialists, ambulance staff, and community health care workers; posts which are vacant and funded are being frozen in many areas. Staff shortages have an adverse impact on the quality of care received by patients, long waiting periods, patients being turned away, low staff morale, staff burn-out, and increases the risks of mistakes and thereby increasing medical claims against the State. The costs of avoidable lawsuits diverts funds from providing health care to the population.
2. The Commission is equally concerned about the state of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the province. It is reported that the province has a shortage of ambulances and ambulance staff.

• The Chairperson will also look into mental health services, safety issues, as well as general infrastructure challenges at several health facilities in the province.

The visit is planned as follows:

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For further information contact - SAHRC Free State Provincial Manager, Mr Thabang Kheswa - 051 447 1130 / 076 038 4507 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.