Diesel stocks to run generators at Western Cape Health facilities have cost the province more than R5 million in June alone.
Provincial health bosses said this expense was not budgeted for.
Officials said from the beginning of April to the end of June this year, they’ve spent R12 million, just on diesel.
Ten hospitals in the Western Cape are exempted from load shedding up to stage six.
Western Cape head of health, Dr Keith Cloete, explained that the rolling power cuts have a huge impact on the provision of health services.
He was speaking during Premier Alan Winde’s weekly Energy Digicon media briefing on Thursday.
“It interferes with medical equipment, computers, digital records, telecoms, cold storage, safe and security, fire alarms, access control and you can go on, because it’s very big complex operations.”
Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, highlighted that despite plans underway to fix the energy crisis in the province, it will take time to do so.
“It is a long-term investment, this is something new that we are all busy doing in this province and that’s why we hold these weekly digicons, to keep the citizens in this province updated, and I know you all want this to be a quick fix, unfortunately, it is not going to just happen in a mere month, it happens over a period of time.”