The Gauteng Department of Health has come out strongly to dismiss explosive claims that heart surgery patients are dying at alarming rates at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, rejecting allegations of a “cover-up” and insisting the facility remains a critical centre of excellence.
The department described claims by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom as “misleading and unverified,” particularly allegations that cardiac surgery mortality rates are as high as 20%.
It maintained that the hospital remains a key cardiothoracic referral centre, delivering specialised care across Gauteng and beyond, with surgical outcomes assessed using internationally accepted methods that account for patient complexity and risk.
“Any interpretation of data that omits these factors is fundamentally flawed and risks misleading the public,” the department said, adding that the mortality rate cited was “not backed by verified risk-adjusted clinical data and should not be viewed in isolation.”
It further rejected claims of secrecy, stressing that clinical performance is subject to ongoing governance and oversight, while acknowledging staffing constraints but insisting these do not point to systemic failure.
Bloom, however, has delivered a scathing counter-narrative, alleging a deepening crisis within the hospital’s cardiothoracic unit and accusing authorities of turning a blind eye to urgent calls for intervention.
“Heart patients are dying due to poor surgical outcomes at the grossly mismanaged Cardiothoracic Department of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital but calls for an independent commission of inquiry have been ignored.”
He said he has escalated the matter to the Health Ombud, Professor Taole Mokoena, and pointed to the resignation of a senior surgeon as evidence of deteriorating conditions.
“The continued refusal to establish a commission of inquiry raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability. This reluctance risks conveying the impression of a deliberate cover-up, further undermining trust in the integrity of our academic and clinical institutions,” he said.
The surgeon described his resignation as “a principled protest against a system that … has failed its clinicians, its trainees, and most disturbingly its patients.”
Bloom also claimed that a sharp drop in surgical volumes from several hundred procedures a year to about 200 is masking the scale of the crisis, leaving critically ill patients without life-saving operations.
“My assessment is that there is a disgraceful cover-up by both Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital and Wits Medical School,” he said.
He added: “According to my sources, the actual heart surgery mortality rate at Charlotte Maxeke is approximately 20%, which is a catastrophic failure. Overseas, mortality rates exceeding 2–3% would immediately trigger a formal inquiry.”
The department has reiterating that concerns around clinical services and training are addressed through established governance channels.
The Star