The Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria. (Photo: Wikipedia) 
On 30 September, Daily Maverick published an article about a maintenance shutdown that affected critical departments of Pretoria’s Steve Biko Academic Hospital, where staff said their patients suffered, with no proper contingency measures in place. The shutdown involved the evacuation and temporary relocation of patients and services over the weekend of 27 and 28 September.
Read more: Power shutdown plunges Steve Biko Academic Hospital into chaos
On 2 October, the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) issued a statement denying the veracity of the article. Daily Maverick has responded to the assertions in the GDoH’s statement with further comments from hospital staff (identities protected).
Daily Maverick stands by the article.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/shiraaz-biko-hospital8.jpg "File photo: The entrance of the emergency unit at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)")
Statement from the GDoH
The Gauteng Department of Health would like to reiterate that patient safety was not compromised during the planned temporary power supply shutdown to enable maintenance work at Steve Biko Academic Hospital’s emergency units. Contrary to the claims made in the recent article published by Daily Maverick that there was chaos during this period, we wish to clarify that this was a planned maintenance, and the assertions made in the article are untrue.
Response from hospital staff
The department’s claims are either untrue or based on a definition of “planning” completely detached from clinical reality. This was not minimal disruption. It was a preventable system failure.
The timing of a planned shutdown makes little sense — why schedule this during an end-of-month weekend, historically one of the busiest periods? Why proceed while Tembisa’s Emergency Department was still closed, only a week away from reopening? Why not schedule mid-week, when staffing is at full strength?
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/MC-CSW-12Dec3.jpg "File photo: Health care workers, patients and family of patients at a Covid-19 screening area for Steve Biko hospital. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)")
Statement from the GDoH
Prior to the shutdown, there were multiple meetings held with the staff physically and virtually. Information about planned maintenance was also shared in various internal platforms.
Response from hospital staff
If staff were informed, let the department produce the notices they claim were circulated. No clinicians at Steve Biko or neighbouring hospitals recall receiving such instructions. If such documents exist, why have they not been published?
(Daily Maverick has seen a notice signed by the CEOs of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and Tshwane District Hospital asking the Tshwane hospital for assistance during the shutdown that began on 27 September. This notice was signed on 23 September, just four days earlier. Staff on the hospital floor maintain that this was not communicated to them.)
Statement from the GDoH
The power supply changeover conducted over the past weekend has been successfully completed to upgrade an outdated electrical system and maintain service continuity during power supply interruptions.
During the changeover period, the hospital continued to function with minimal disruptions, with emergency units temporarily relocated to Level 3 to accommodate walk-in patients who could not be diverted elsewhere.
Additionally, the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) utilised their satellite facilities within the hospital next to the interim Emergency Department, serving as a temporary blood request receiving site. Furthermore, NHLS stationed within the facility continued to receive and process requests with their facilities’ support.
Response from hospital staff
In fact, between Friday and Sunday, services were disrupted. There were no high-care or surgical patients accepted. No internal medicine patients were admitted. No CT scans were available, which meant, among other things, that no stroke patients and other time-critical patients relying on Steve Biko for radiology services could be assessed timeously.
Even if a walk-in triage desk had been set up, it did nothing to address the lack of high-acuity care, surgical access or imaging capacity. Relocating a desk is not equivalent to maintaining hospital function.
Statement from the GDoH
The GDoH remains committed to ensuring patient safety and continuity of the delivery of quality healthcare services across all health facilities, even during the maintenance work that is normally performed.
Response from hospital staff
The reality was a total system collapse. P1 beds across Tshwane filled up, leaving critically ill patients stranded at district hospitals. Can the department provide figures showing ICU and high-care availability during this period? DM