Star Metro - S.Africa patients flock to docked Chinese hospital ship

The "Peace Ark" arrived on South Africa's western shores on August 22 and will "provide independent medical services for seven consecutive days", South Africa's army health service said in a statement.

It has "a 600-700 outpatient treating capacity", it added.

Despite being the most advanced economy on the continent, South Africa grapples with widespread poverty and high unemployment, making quality health care often inaccessible.

Pregnant Katelyn April said the medical vessel was a godsend as she could no longer afford private health care because of skyrocketing prices.

"This was the perfect timing because I was supposed to go for my six-week scan and the prices are usually high by the private hospitals," she said.

Medical personnel from the South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) will be working alongside the Chinese medical staff, it said.

Equipped with medical instruments and laboratory services, the ship offers specialised health services, surgical procedures and in-patient treatment, SAMHS said.

Patients waited in a queue as a Chinese hospital staff member directed them to the sign-up station.

In one of the rooms, two patients received pain-relieving cupping therapy on their backs; in another, a patient was having dental treatment.

"The SA Navy and SA Air Force will provide logistical, technical and engineering support alongside the docked medical vessel of the People's Republic of China," the SAMHS added.

The exercise involving the "gigantic medical vessel... hopes to strengthen military and diplomatic ties as well as reinforce humanitarian medical aid skills between these two countries", it said.

Africa has become a diplomatic battleground, with the United States, Russia and China vying for influence amid heightened competition for minerals and international divisions fostered by the war in Ukraine.

China has used a combination of debt relief and investment to expand its footprint in the African heavyweight.

In recent years, Beijing has also sought to make use of soft power including cultural programmes and diplomatic exercises to promote its influence in South Africa.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend a China-Africa cooperation summit during the first week of September along with other African leaders.

O.Poirier--SMC