The mounds of stinking medical waste in the basement of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital have finally been taken away.
Hospital CEO Dr Barney Selebano on Monday confirmed that all the waste had been removed.
According to Selebano, the hospital had turned to Joburg's refuse removal company, Pikitup, and another waste removal company, Psychem, to deal with the problem.
When contacted for confirmation, the managing director of Psychem, Ludwig Hartmann, said he could neither confirm nor deny his part in helping Charlotte Maxeke.
"This is a terrible industry," he said. "I'd rather help the hospital than see our name in the newspaper
Pikitup confirmed its involvement and said the waste had been taken to an incinerator in Turffontein.
The build-up at Charlotte Maxeke began nearly three weeks ago when medical waste removal company Phambili Wasteman stopped providing its services following a price dispute. Phambili Wasteman claims it is owed R6-million by the Gauteng Department of Health.
A letter from the department, signed on January 26, confirms that it is currently having cash-flow problems and is "unable to settle the service providers' accounts timeously".
Gauteng health spokesperson Mandla Sidu said yesterday: "The MEC (Dorothy Qedani Mahlangu) has on numerous times explained to service providers that there is a cash-flow problem, but we are committed to meeting our obligations and paying service providers."
Sidu could not identify the cause of the department's cash-flow issue but said mechanisms had been put in place to correct it.
He said the department was looking to strike a deal with service providers to avoid similar waste problems at more of the province's hospitals.
But a statement released by DA Gauteng health spokesman Jack Bloom alleges that other Joburg and Pretoria hospitals - among them Chris Hani-Baragwanath - have already been affected by the fallout between Phambili Wasteman and the department.
When contacted, the hospital confirmed that it too had been experiencing a waste removal backlog "because the previous company was giving us problems".
The hospital would not confirm or deny whether this company was Phambili Wasteman, but added that yet another company, Buhle Waste, had been asked for help, and they had "complied".
But Buhle Waste owner Dr David Sekete denied his company's involvement.
"My company is not responsible for that region. That is Wasteman's region," he said.
