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Does the DA keep to the facts? In the last instalment of our fact checks of manifesto claims, it’s the official opposition’s turn.
Claim: South Africa has a ratio of one clinic to 16 971 people.
The ratio in this claim does not reflect the current situation because it is based on numbers that date from the year of the previous general election.
DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi told us that the statistic was contained in the 2017 South African Survey by the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR).
According to the health chapter of this report, South Africa had 3 182 public clinics in 2014.
The SAIRR, in turn, sourced this number from the work of the Health Systems Trust, a nonprofit organisation that specialises in health research.
The most recent edition of the SA Health Review from the Health Systems Trust puts the number of public clinics in March last year at 3 187 – only five more than in 2014. But because of the increase in the population size since 2014, the ratio in the claim is out of date.
Based on Stats SA’s midyear population estimates, South Africa had 57.73 million residents last year. This would mean that there was one clinic for every 18 114 people at the time.
What is a clinic?
Candy Day, technical specialist at the Health Systems Trust, told Africa Check/City Press that the number of clinics cited in the SA Health Review applied to government-operated clinics (not private clinics) and excluded mobile and satellite clinics.
She said the source of the count was the District Health Information System, which is used by the national and provincial departments of health, and contains a categorisation of health facilities.
“In general, we do our best to provide the summary statistics, but, as with all data, there are many nuances and areas where errors or interpretation can arise,” she said.
Population not the only consideration
The spokesperson for the department of health, Popo Maja, told us there were currently 5 211 primary healthcare delivery points, of which 3 190 were clinics.
He said population wasn’t the only determinant of where and how many healthcare facilities government provides. In some cases, the ratio of facilities to people would be “irrelevant”.
Maja gave the example of the sparsely populated Northern Cape, where a small community of about 1 000 people would need access to a primary healthcare facility.
Conversely, he said, it was “not feasible” to have a facility every 2km2 in densely populated areas like Soweto in Gauteng.
“In these cases, you would have primary healthcare service delivery facilities that would have up to 30 consulting rooms to enable the provision of services to the catchment population.”
Read the ANC manifesto claims we've fact-checked:
- Did only 51% of children attend school in 1994?
- No, the ANC has not provided 4.7m free houses since 1994
- 5.5m earned below minimum wage in 2017
- How much did the ANC-led government spend on infrastructure in a decade?
- Student financial aid increases from R70m to R14bn in 24 years
‘The WHO guideline’
The DA also claims that the country’s clinic-to-person ratio falls short of a World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline of 1:10 000.
However, the document the party provided in support of this only states that the number and distribution of health facilities per 10 000 people is a core indicator for monitoring service delivery.
We were unable to find a WHO representative who was aware of the existence of the purported guideline for clinics cited by the DA in its manifesto.
Verdict: Incorrect
While the number of public clinics used to calculate the ratio closely matches the current figure provided by the department of health, the DA relied on an outdated population size. The most recent data show that there was one clinic for every 18 114 people last year.
Read the EFF manifesto claims we've fact-checked:
- Dropout rates: Is South Africa among the worst in the world?
- State did not buy only 7% of the land it targeted
- Are almost 40% who need jobs unemployed?
Manifesto research ‘within reasonable accuracy’ – DA
Asked to comment on our findings, DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi, said: “The Democratic Alliance notes the findings by Africa Check on the party’s Manifesto for Change. The manifesto underwent a vigorous research and consultation process in order to ensure that we can deliver the best offer to the people of South Africa. Where we govern,we have a proven track record of success in both healthcare and land reform. This is because we understand that when it comes to healthcare and land reform, our people deserve dignity and justice. We are confident that all the information from the research into the manifesto is within reasonable accuracy.”
- This package is part of a journalism partnership with Africa Check, the continent’s leading fact-checking organisation. The project aims to ensure that claims made by those in charge of state resources and delivering essential services are factually correct. In the run-up to this year’s national and provincial elections, it will be increasingly important for voters to be able to make informed decisions. This series aims to provide voters with the tools to do that.
