This, after missing the latest promised deadline of October 31, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.

This was revealed by Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku in an oral reply to questions in the legislature last week, DA Gauteng MPL and shadow health MEC Jack Bloom said in a statement.

"Work on the ward started in February 2008 and was supposed to be finished in 2014, but three companies had to be fired and the fourth company could not provide needed mechanical equipment that had to be imported from France at an extra cost of R4 million," he said.

Two years ago, then health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa disclosed that the cost of the ward had tripled to R34 million and she promised that it would be finished in March 2018.

This highlighted, yet again, the incompetence of the department of infrastructure development, which was repeatedly incapable of choosing building companies that could do the job properly, Bloom said.

Meanwhile, psychiatric patients at this major hospital continued to suffer in unsuitable facilities despite lessons that should have been learned from the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

"I hope that the new psychiatric ward, which will increase beds from 20 to 40, is indeed opened in January next year," Bloom said.

African News Agency (ANA)