Charlotte Maxeke row deepens as DA MPL refuses to retract ‘false’ medicine shortage claim
· Citizen
DA member of the Gauteng provincial legislature (MPL), Madeleine Hicklin, has refused to issue a public correction over her claims that patients at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) were being denied essential medicines, despite the Gauteng Department of Health accusing her of spreading misleading information.
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The dispute stemmed from a statement Hicklin released on 16 July 2026, in which she said patients at the hospital had been unable to receive essential medicines due to ongoing shortages.
“For vulnerable patients with serious infections, every missed dose increases the risk of complications and could prove life-threatening,” she said in the statement.
Department accuses Hicklin of factual inaccuracies
The Gauteng Department of Health responded on Tuesday, saying Hicklin made reckless and misleading claims.
According to the department, hospital management engaged with Hicklin after her statement and found that she had wrongly claimed the affected patients were in a “ward 5”, when CMJAH in fact uses a three-digit ward numbering system.
The department said Hicklin acknowledged this error during the engagement but never issued a public correction, leaving misleading information in the public domain.
Hicklin conceded the numbering mistake but was adamant that it did not undermine the substance of her claims.
“There was a ward number mistake, and it is because I am dealing with so many issues at so many hospitals of essential drugs that are not available at so many different institutions,” she said.
Asked directly whether she would correct the record, she was unequivocal. “I will not give any correction,” she said.
Hicklin stands by shortage claims, cites liquid nitrogen case
Despite the department’s objections, Hicklin insisted her underlying allegations about medicine shortages were accurate.
She told The Citizen her claims were based on a conversation with the hospital’s nursing manager and quality assurance manager who raised concerns that patients were not receiving essential medicines, both in the hospital and as outpatients.
She pointed to what she described as a direct result of that conversation as evidence that her claims had merit. “Within 24 hours of my discussion with her, skin cancer patients suddenly found themselves able to access liquid nitrogen in the dermatology clinic, which they had not been able to access for the last eight months,” she said.
She rejected the department’s framing of her statement, maintaining that the shortages were real. “As much as the health department wants to say that I am making false claims, I am not making false claims,” she said.
Hicklin also indicated the dispute was not over, saying she was preparing to release another statement about further medicines affecting patient care.
Department calls for responsible oversight
The Gauteng Department of Health on Tuesday said unverified public allegations risked causing panic and undermining confidence in public healthcare, given that most South Africans depend on public facilities as their only source of care.
The department maintained that while challenges exist within the health system, these were continuously managed through established clinical and supply chain processes, and it called on public representatives to verify information before making public statements and to correct the record once inaccuracies are identified.