Page 5 - Da Mpl News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The unemployment rate in Nelson Mandela Bay has remained static, while the Eastern Cape has registered a modest decline.

The SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in the Eastern Cape and education minister Angie Motshekga could be heading for a collision over the mooted centralisation of the national school nutrition programme budget, which it says is likely to be reintroduced in the province in 2024.

As financial woes continue to hamper the provincial health department, frustrated patients say they are being forced to wait longer for orthopaedic surgery due to a lack of medical implants and other equipment at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane.

As the country faces the real prospect of running out of money, the national government has instructed the province to cover its public servants’ increased wage bill. This according to a report dated October 5 on cost-containment guidelines presented by the Treasury to the senior provincial officials.

Eastern Cape health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth says the province’s pothole-ridden rural roads are damaging its ambulances, slowing emergency response times and forcing the department to use helicopters at great cost to reach inaccessible areas. Meth revealed this when she tabled her department’s annual report for the 2022/2023 financial year in the provincial legislature last week.