GAUTENG Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has confirmed that the "sabotage of services at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital is an internal issue"

Speaking at the Soweto hospital yesterday, Mokonyane said the laundry machine software, generators and gas lines were tampered with, causing disruptions to services and placing patients' lives at risk.

"It is nothing other than sabotage and is an internal issue because the areas that were affected could not be accessed by outsiders," said Mokonyane.

She said the laundry machine software had been removed, causing the machines not to run. This affected the availability of clean linen at the hospital.

Operations in wards and theatres were also delayed due to gas lines having been closed down deliberately.

"No grievance that anybody has with the hospital should justify tampering with the lives of patients," she said.

Hospital CEO Johanna More said she could not say if her staff was happy or not .

"The people that are involved in the sabotage are people who know this hospital very well," she said.

"The areas mentioned are those without cameras, and these people are not working with us to keep this hospital safe."

Mokonyane said the police would help the hospital investigate the matter and help put faces to the people who are sabotaging the hospital.

"The SAPS has the capacity to investigate and monitor the situation and to follow up on the issues raised by their investigation," Mokonyane said.