Food shortages and hot water woes: Charlotte Maxeke Hospital struggles with basic patient needs

7 May 2025

A shortage of food and hot water at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg has affected the ability of health workers to provide care, with some patients allegedly asking to be discharged due to hunger.

Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg has faced a shortage of food for patients since last week, as well as a loss of hot water supply in certain parts of the facility.

A health professional at the hospital who chose to remain anonymous out of concern for backlash told Daily Maverick that the shortage of food meant patients had gone hungry, with some unable to take medication on empty stomachs. They said some patients had asked to be discharged due to hunger.

“Families (of patients) are bringing some food and staff are buying some,” said the health professional on Tuesday, 6 May 2025. “All wards in the hospital are affected.”

According to the health professional, as of Tuesday morning there had been no communication with hospital staff about the food shortage or the reasons behind it.

However, in a meeting with hospital management later that day, staff were allegedly told that the shortage was due to the food supplier’s factory being temporarily shut down. The CEO of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital reportedly told staff that the patients would get food that night.

The health professional who spoke to Daily Maverick alleged that no alternative arrangements had been made to address the disrupted supply of food up to that point.

Motalatale Modiba, the spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health, confirmed that Charlotte Maxeke Hospital had experienced food supply delays “due to the food supply company having compliance issues with their local municipality”.

“However, the matter has been resolved, and the facility is now receiving food supply. It is imperative to state that during the delays in the food supply, all patients were provided with all three meals per day — breakfast, lunch and supper,” said Modiba.

Jack Bloom, the DA’s shadow health MEC in Gauteng, told Daily Maverick that the food suppliers for Gauteng’s public hospitals were based in Limpopo and the Free State.

“These food contracts are very fishy,” he alleged. “The disgrace is that something as simple as food contracts should really be utterly reliable, good value for money and should deliver… It’s just one more dysfunction of the Gauteng Department of Health.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, 7 May, Bloom called for the removal of Gladys Bogoshi, the CEO of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, in light of “yet another crisis” at the facility. Bogoshi has headed the hospital since 2013.

“Doctors and nurses are struggling to deal with hungry patients as bread and porridge is served for meals instead of the normal variety of nutritious food. Even tea and sugar are not available,” he said.

“A top-class CEO should be recruited urgently to fix the hospital’s manifold problems, restore trust with staff and improve the quality of patient care.”

The Gauteng Department of Health confirmed that there had also been challenges with the delivery of certain food items at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, due to non-payment of suppliers from the month of April.

"This has since been resolved. The delay in payment is attributed to the transition to the new financial year," said Modiba.

"Despite this, patients have received all scheduled nutritionally balanced meals. We can assure the public that no patient has gone without a meal as the facility made the necessary provisions."

Hot water supply disruptions

A message sent out by the logistics team at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, which was shared with Daily Maverick by the health professional who chose to remain anonymous, indicated that a contractor had been appointed to address the loss of hot water, but repairs to the system had been delayed due to the public holidays.

In the message, it was stated that there was a further “challenge with these repairs” due to the four-to-six-week manufacturing period for components before installation could be completed.

Hospital staff have allegedly been boiling water to wash patients.

Modiba said that only certain parts of the hospital had been affected by a loss of hot water supply.

“The areas affected by the [loss of] hot water supply currently rely on nearby wards and clinics for the supply of hot water,” he said.

“Domestic hot water is supplied using steam in calorifiers. These calorifiers are heat exchangers where steam is pushed through coils to heat the surrounding water. The coils in these calorifiers have corroded and must be replaced.

“Unfortunately, the coils are not off-the-shelf items and must be manufactured, with a turnaround time of four to six weeks. However, one of the coils has been delivered, and the contractor is on site replacing it.”

Modiba noted that “most parts of the hospital” had hot water, with only two blocks affected by the corroded coils.

Some staff at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital have allegedly not been paid for commuted overtime in April.

When asked about this problem, Modiba responded: “This is a matter affecting two hospitals, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital. There were administrative and financial challenges that led to the non-payment in the affected institutions. The matter of payments is currently receiving attention.”

Read more: Joburg hospitals downplay service effects after Egoli Gas cuts supply over ‘contractual dispute’

Read more: Gauteng health workers, experts raise alarm as hiring freezes pose risk to patient care

It’s not the first time Charlotte Maxeke Hospital has faced issues with the supply of food and hot water. In March, Daily Maverick reported that a contractual dispute between the Gauteng Department of Health and the supplier Egoli Gas had led to gas supplies at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital being cut, affecting access to hot water at the facilities.

In April 2022, there were food supply disruptions at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital due to shortcomings at the supplier’s factory, according to a News24 report. DM

This article was updated on 7 May at 15.56 to include comment from GDOH on reports of disruptions at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital.

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