{"id":875513,"date":"2026-09-15T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=875513"},"modified":"2026-09-15T12:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T10:51:26","slug":"state-of-the-art-hospital-in-south-africa-standing-empty-after-10-years-and-r2-8-billion-hit-by-social-unrest-and-liquidation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/875513\/state-of-the-art-hospital-in-south-africa-standing-empty-after-10-years-and-r2-8-billion-hit-by-social-unrest-and-liquidation\/","title":{"rendered":"State-of-the-art hospital in South Africa standing empty after 10 years and R2.8 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The construction of the new Mapulaneng Regional Hospital in Mpumalanga has been delayed due to community unrest and the liquidation of one of its contractors, which has disrupted the 10-year build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, the project, which carries a construction cost of R2.835 billion, was due to be completed in July 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hospital is intended to replace the existing Mapulaneng Hospital, which had become dilapidated over its 90-year lifespan. The original hospital was established by Swiss missionaries in 1936.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new hospital was planned as an expanded, state-of-the-art facility to serve as a referral facility for various District Hospitals in the surrounding municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is located in Bushbuckridge within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction of the new hospital commenced in phases in 2016, with a full contractual completion date of July 2026. It had an initial budget of R2.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was reported at 78% physical progress as of December 2025, with the budget increasing to over R2.8 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the hospital faces overruns and higher costs due to the indefinite delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 1 of the project, which entailed bulk water, sewer, and electricity reticulation, as well as construction of an access road, commenced in September 2016 and was completed in September 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 2 of the project, covering retaining walls and bulk earthworks, started in 2017 and was completed in July 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 3 of the project was the main build of the hospital itself and surrounding facilities. Construction on this phase started in July 2021 and was expected to be complete by July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in response to a parliamentary Q&A on the hospital, Motsoaledi said there has been a delay in the facility’s full completion and operationalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is “attributable to the liquidation process of the contractor on Phase 3A, as well as the prolonged community-related disruptions,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This resulted in the closure of the construction site and, consequently, no access to the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indefinite delay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Motsoaledi said the site closure affected the execution of works under both Phase 3A and Phase 3C of the project, as construction activities could not proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 3A of the project included hospital wards, theatres, and the CSSD, OPD, Radiology, the main entrance, and the support building, among many other critical features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 3C included the residences, gymnasium, library, swimming pool, sports facilities, and infrastructure like sewer and stormwater services, paved roads and parking, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said that Phase 3B achieved practical completion in January 2026\u2014missing its July 2025 deadline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This phase involved the construction of the Emergency Medical Services Building, Isolation Ward, Surgical Ward, Orthopaedical Ward and Building Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said that outstanding construction work still needs to be completed, while the procurement of fixed medical equipment is currently underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no updated completion date. <\/strong>Motsoaledi said one would be communicated once the Extension of Time claims have been finalised. He noted that the delay will have financial implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes variation orders totalling R187 million, as well as further potential costs related to outstanding works, extension claims, security, and the appointment of a new contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these costs are still subject to assessment and cannot yet be conclusively quantified, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said that no consequence management measures have been instituted against the project team; however, the contractor for phase 3A has terminated due to liquidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images of the Mapulaneng Regional Hospital construction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The construction of the new Mapulaneng Regional Hospital in Mpumalanga has been delayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":875555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2099815756972032002","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2206173470203052","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18116883067980186","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[19423,19306,18999,17963],"class_list":["post-875513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-aaron-motsoaledi","tag-department-of-health","tag-hospital","tag-parliamentary-qa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875513"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875562,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875513\/revisions\/875562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}