The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), has called for the temporary closure of the Kimberley mental hospital in the Northern Cape. This is due to the facility having been without electricity since October last year, following the vandalism of the substation.
This has led to patients bathing in cold water and being forced to use ablution facilities that are out of order. Denosa says the situation is not conducive for their members and have called for decisive action from the department of health.
Overgrown grass greets you as you enter the Kimberley Mental Hospital, which took 13 years to construct at an exorbitant cost of over R2 billion. The facility which was labelled a monument of corruption by Premier Zamani Saul when it opened its door some five years ago continues to invite controversy.
It has been plunged into darkness for a few months now due to theft of infrastructure. Denosa says the facility which now looks abandoned puts it’s members lives at risk.
“Our stance is very clear, you cannot treat a patient and the staff that is nurses like this as the department. The department role is to ensure a conducive environment which first and foremost they dismally failed in that. Mental health is a hell of an issue in our country,” says Gilbert Sak, Denosa provincial chairperson.
Head of Department at the Northern Cape Department of Health, Mxolisi Mlatha says they are aware of the current challenges at the facility and are in the process of fixing the vandalised substation.
“End of June we expect that a generator will be installed, that will return power to the entire facility. The absence of power affects a lot of things in the facility, in terms of availability of hot water and continued lighting. But work is being done to fix the matters at the facility.”
Meanwhile, the department says electricity at the facility will be restored next month. But Denosa says too many promises have been made already and that decisive action should be taken.
