Infant deaths are defined as deaths occurring during the first year of life, and are divided into newborn deaths that occur during the newborn period (0 – 28 days) and post-neonatal deaths that occur between 29 days and one year of age. The majority of infant deaths occur during the newborn period.
The thirty public sector hospitals with the highest number of infant deaths recorded thus far in 2021 are shown in the table below[1]. The hospitals with the highest number of infant deaths are predominantly national central, tertiary and regional hospitals – this is primarily due to the fact that these are large, referral hospitals which provide care to many newborns and other infants who are at highest risk of death.
Hospital |
Level of care |
No. of newborn deaths |
No. of post-neonatal infant deaths |
Total infant deaths |
gp Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital |
Tertiary hospital |
299 |
62 |
361 |
ec Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital |
National Central Hospital |
139 |
67 |
206 |
gp Dr George Mukhari Hospital |
National Central Hospital |
168 |
29 |
197 |
lp Mankweng Hospital |
Tertiary hospital |
159 |
27 |
186 |
gp Tembisa Hospital |
Tertiary hospital |
166 |
18 |
184 |
gp Rahima Moosa Hospital |
Tertiary hospital |
156 |
23 |
179 |
ec Dora Nginza Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
126 |
40 |
166 |
gp Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
149 |
17 |
166 |
kz Queen Nandi Regional Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
116 |
41 |
157 |
fs Bongani Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
135 |
22 |
157 |
kz Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
129 |
20 |
149 |
wc Tygerberg Hospital |
National Central Hospital |
118 |
31 |
149 |
nw Mahikeng Provincial Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
126 |
11 |
137 |
nw Job Shimankana Tabane Hospital |
Tertiary Hospital |
119 |
17 |
136 |
gp Sebokeng Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
101 |
18 |
119 |
gp Steve Biko Academic Hospital |
National Central Hospital |
68 |
49 |
117 |
kz Mahatma Gandhi Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
95 |
17 |
112 |
fs Pelonomi Hospital |
Tertiary hospital |
92 |
17 |
109 |
kz Port Shepstone Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
87 |
21 |
108 |
kz General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
91 |
16 |
107 |
kz RK Khan Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
84 |
13 |
97 |
mp Witbank Hospital |
Tertiary hospital |
72 |
21 |
93 |
gp Kalafong Hospital |
Tertiary Hospital |
71 |
18 |
89 |
mp Rob Ferreira Hospital |
Tertiary Hospital |
65 |
22 |
87 |
gp Mamelodi Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
76 |
11 |
87 |
gp Leratong Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
67 |
18 |
85 |
ec Mthatha General Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
79 |
2 |
81 |
kz Newcastle Hospital |
Regional Hospital |
62 |
18 |
80 |
fs Universitas Hospital |
National Central Hospital |
69 |
11 |
80 |
gp Jubilee Hospital |
District Hospital |
77 |
3 |
80 |
END.
District Health Information System. Extracted 2nd September 2021. ↑