Crime is affecting healthcare services in Umlazi, the largest township in the eThekwini Metro. In the latest development, mobile clinic services from the Prince Mshiyeni Hospital were suspended about two weeks ago.
This happened is after a healthcare worker was kidnapped from a mobile clinic at a local shopping centre. He was then forced to withdraw money from his bank account.
Crime statistics in Umlazi are among the highest in the province.
The Public Servants’ Association regional manager in KwaZulu-Natal, Mlungisi Ndlovu, has called on the provincial Health Department, police and community leaders to work together to find urgent solutions.
“You noted the situation where staff who service the communities are being hijacked. The majority of them are afraid. Who’s going to suffer? It’s going to be the citizens. So, we are saying it’s serious, whether it’s ambulances, whether it’s social workers; we’ve got this crisis in the province where we appeal to the provincial commissioner to say, let’s be able to work together. We appeal to the municipalities to be able to close ranks. Because some of our members want to resign from these particular hospitals because we are facing with these challenges.”
The department’s spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa says police have started to escort ambulances. It has yet to comment on concerns around the safety of mobile clinics in Umlazi.
HEALTH | Umlazi mobile clinic service operations suspended:
