Patients are being turned away at the Mthimba Clinic in Mpumalanga, following an attack on the nursing staff. Trade union NEHAWU has withdrawn its members from the clinic citing safety concerns. Armed robbers allegedly accosted nurses and robbed them of their belongings, including cell phones. This, despite plans to safeguard health centres in the province.
Services at the Mthimba Clinic have been suspended.
The gates are closed and patients have been turned away. The clinic is the latest health centre in the province to be attacked. Some of the patients who were turned away, say:
“I am a resident of Numbi. I just came from home to the clinic. The clinic is closed. So, we were asking the department or the government to come and assist us here because now we’ve got nowhere to go. We don’t know when it is going to be opened.”
“I came here to seek help but there’s no one to assist and I had to take a taxi to come here. I now have to take another taxi to a nearby clinic.”
The attack and robbery took place despite the deployment of armed security at the clinic. NEHAWU provincial spokesperson, Welcome Mnisi, says their members won’t return to work until their safety concerns are properly addressed.
“We want a situation wherein the provincial government is going to gather a team to ensure that institutions are safeguarded because these workers, once they are here, are property of the state. So the state must also protect this property which is human beings. Number two, the issue of assets. Number three, the community members, the recipients of these services, are being disrupted by these thugs.”
At least 23 vehicles and two mobile clinics have allegedly been stolen from health facilities in the province in the past six months. The provincial Health Department’s spokesperson, Dumisani Malamule, says they have sought the assistance of the Department of Community Safety.
“It was very unfortunate where the staff had to endure thieves that came in and stole about seven cell phones. Some from the security guards, from patients, from the staff. Well, the issue of security is quite a concern for the department. Of course, also the disruption of services. However, due to this incident, we’ve roped in the Department of Community Safety to look into the issue of security issues in the department.”
The provincial Community Safety Department spokesperson, Moeti Mmusi, says they have plans to provide extra resources to improve security at health centres.”
“We will constantly engage with the police in the province to ensure that police stations where those centres are located, are able to do some form of patrols.”
At least four communities are affected by the closure of the clinic. NEHAWU and Health Department officials are expected to meet on Monday to discuss the possibility of re-opening the clinic.
