Health Budget Vote: Infrastructure High on the Agenda

Pretoria: The Department of Health will submit more than 10 bids to the expanded Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) starting in the July 2026 bid window. According to South African Government News Agency, Health Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi announced the plans during the department's Budget Vote. These bids aim to accelerate the government's commitment to substantial investment in health infrastructure, prioritizing the construction and revitalization of academic hospitals as outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address this year. "In February this year, during the Budget Speech, the Minister of Finance announced the increase in the capacity of the BFI, an instrument for managing large public infrastructure projects. Treasury has pronounced 4 bid windows in this financial year for departments to bid for any infrastructure costing more than R1 billion. We as Health will be sending 11 bids starting in the July bid window," Motsoaledi stated. The 11 bids include project s for Dr. George Mkhari Academic Hospital in Gauteng, Victoria Mxenge (King Edward VIII) academic hospitals in KZN, Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in the Eastern Cape, and several others. Additional facilities include six community health centres, details of which will be announced later. Motsoaledi emphasized that the department is not starting from scratch, highlighting existing health infrastructure projects already under construction: Limpopo Central Hospital, Siloam District Hospital, and Dihlabeng Regional Hospital, among others. Reflecting on the budget, Motsoaledi noted that the department has experienced a decade-long period of austerity measures. "Last year, the Minister of Finance decided to start a move to take us out of the austerity slowly but surely. He allocated to Health R6.7 billion, intended to perform four very important functions," he said. These functions include hiring 1,200 post-community service doctors, 200 nurses, and 250 other health workers; hiring 27,000 community health wor kers on a permanent basis; acquiring 1.4 million articles worth R1.3 billion for public hospitals; and addressing accrued debts accumulated over a decade. The budget for the National Department of Health for this financial year is R64.8 billion.