Speaker, the Directorate of Radiation Control within the Department of Health is on the verge of collapse due to the chronic lack of staff and the moratorium on the appointment of new staff. This leaves anyone needing x-ray examinations and a range of other uses of radioactive nuclides vulnerable to machinery and sources that have not been tested and will potentially be delivering too much or too little radiation, which can result in serious health risks.
The directorate regulates the possession, use, transport, import, export and disposal of radioactive materials and x-ray machines that are used for a variety of medical, scientific, agricultural, industrial and commercial purposes. However, the DA has been informed that the backlog in the inspections of the x-ray machines is over 6 000 out of a total 15 000 machines, and the backlog for radioactive nuclides is over 1 400 out of a total of 2 600.
The Durban office, for example, which is responsible for KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and parts of the Eastern Cape, does not have one single inspector, and certain areas of this office's jurisdiction have not been inspected for nearly nine years.
The Cape Town office, which is responsible for the Western Cape, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape, has only one inspector, with the other post vacant for over a year. The DA is calling on the Minister of Health to immediately lift the moratorium on the appointment of staff and to set up a task team to investigate how the situation came about. [Time expired.] I thank you. [Applause.]