Twenty-three of the Eastern Cape's 735 clinics operate without electricity, health MEC Phumza Dyantyi revealed this week.
The hardest hit district is the rural Alfred Nzo where 11 clinics are completely in the dark, while Buffalo City Metro's Fort Grey Clinic has also been without electricity for more than a year.
The crisis of clinics without electricity results in some medication that has to be kept at low temperatures being stored at villagers' homes, health portfolio committee chairman Mxolisi Dimaza said.
Fort Grey Clinic near East London airport has been without electricity for almost two years because of continued cable theft and vandalism, Dyantyi told members of Eastern Cape legislature.
She was responding to DA MPL Celeste Barker's written questions at the legislature on Wednesday. Barker had asked the MEC how many clinics in the province were without electricity, water and sanitation.
Dyantyi said the only districts that did not have clinics without electricity were Nelson Mandela Bay, Chris Hani and Sarah Baartman, while other districts have some clinics that run day-to-day services without electricity. In Alfred Nzo 11 clinics are running without power, in OR Tambo there are six such clinics, Joe Gqabi has four, while BCM and Amathole have one each.
"In clinics with no electricity, vaccines are stored in gas fridges while negotiations are under way with Eskom to fast track the process of installing electricity in all the clinics that may not have electricity," she said.
Referring to Fort Grey Clinic, Dyantyi said: "Eskom has advised that they cannot replace that transformer again since it will be the third time they are replacing this transformer that continually gets vandalised by communities."
Dimaza said they were concerned by the number of clinics without electricity, saying they wanted provincial health officials to meet with Eskom and Coega officials to discuss connecting the clinics to the grid.
"We're dealing with people's lives here so this cannot be delayed any further hence the sooner the department meets with Eskom and Coega, the better," said Dimaza.