Limpopo Health MEC Dr Norman Mabasa has hailed the donation of maternity equipment by Switzerland to the Elim Hospital.

Mabasa said he was grateful to the Swiss for the equipment, totalling millions of rands, but said it was not because Limpopo was in need. He was speaking at Elim hospital during the handover of the equipment last Friday. He said the equipment was given to the hospital because the Swiss were renewing ties with a hospital they built more than a 100 years ago.

According to Mabasa, the equipment will make a huge difference in the maternity ward. “We really appreciate the Swiss’s generosity. Their heart is in the right place and they are as reliable as a Swiss watch,” said Mabasa jokingly.

He said Ambassador Christian Meuwly had initiated the donation to the hospital. The hospital was built and inaugurated in 1889 by Swiss doctor George Liengme, who had been sent to South Africa by the then Swiss Mission based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Meuwly said after he became ambassador to South Africa in 2011, he visited the hospital, which he knew had ties with his country. “I found that the maternity ward was faced with heavy responsibilities and decided to do something about it,” he said.

He approached Lausanne University hospital and it decided to make the contribution. MediClinic International paid for transporting the equipment to South Africa.

The acting CEO of the hospital, Ms Elbie Vosloo, said that before the completion of renovation works in May this year, the maternity ward did not have a theatre and lacked essential equipment. “The Swiss donation will help to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality,” she said. Vosloo said that MediClinic's attention to health care extended further than its private patients.

She also said that an average of 300 babies was born at the hospital every month. The newly acquired ultrasound apparatus will allow for better care and an accurate prevention of medical complications.

Among the donated equipment are ultrasound systems, ventilators and evaporators, incubators for neonatal intensive care, a medical cart and chairs for gynaecological care.