The Hospital Of Hope

You takes a look inside Cape Town’s state-of-the-art field hospital as it prepares to receive recovering Covid-19 patients

- Pieter Van Zyl

It used to teem with visitors from around the world who converged on it for any kind of convention or exhibition you can think of.

The Mining Indaba, art fairs, thoroughbred horse auctions, the World Economic Forum on Africa, jazz festivals, bridal exhibitions, baby shows and even sexpos – the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) was transformed each time into a worldclass venue for meetings, displays, parties and think tanks.

But the sprawling complex on the Mother City’s Foreshore is a very different place now. Covid-19 has transformed it – as it has transformed almost every aspect of life in South Africa and beyond.

The convention centre has now been dubbed the Hospital of Hope – a huge, hi-tech, state-of-the-art field hospital to deal with the expected influx of coronavirus cases as the province continues to be the hotbed of infections in the country.

The 862-bed field hospital – the largest of its kind in SA and the continent – was recently officially opened by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who declared, “We must do whatever we can to defend our people against this pandemic and to make sure we restore life to the people who will come into his facility.”

The Hospital of Hope – Isibhedlele se Themba – is quite a sight to behold. Walls and barriers have been removed to turn the centre into four huge wards that together equal the length of three rugby fields. The wards occupy a total of 11 339m² and in places the ceiling is 18m high. The four wards are separated by temporary dry wall.