Thank you, Deputy Chair. I hereby give notice that on the next sitting of day of the Council I shall move:
That the Council -
notes with the utmost concern and apprehension the statement made by the national Department of Health last Tuesday admitting that security in some of our public hospitals is slack and that this puts the lives of health workers and patients at risk;
further notes that the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, indicated that the department was aware of security problems at some of its hospitals and that it was working hard to address them, but this would come at a huge cost to the department;
acknowledges that last Friday's hostage drama that unfolded at a private hospital in Durban, Life Westville Hospital, where a 38-year-old man was shot dead by police after he held a woman hostage for four hours, is indicative that security in our health facilities is lax and in need of urgent interventions; and
(4) takes this opportunity to call on the Department of Health to move with utmost speed and expedience in securing our public health facilities.