Two dangerous days in Alex
ALEXANDRA - The Alex Clinic has revealed sorrowful statistics which left many families distraught on two dates over the festive season.
The Alex Clinic has revealed sorrowful statistics pertaining to two dates over the festive season which have left many families distraught.
The statistics show a repeated trend of serious bodily injury cases on 16 December, the Day of Reconciliation, and 31 December. However, both days are known for peaceful coexistence and merriment.
Clinic administrator Yvonne Lefakane said the incidents which occurred on the respective days relate to violence and recklessness. The total cases for both days include the following: 46 cases for assault, 31 stab wounds, 12 motor vehicle accidents, three burns, and 45 other accidents.
Lefakane said the mentioned cases were part of 2 306 total attended cases at the clinic for the month of December. The other cases included the following: nine for gun shot wounds, 604 assault-related injuries, 66 stab wounds, 157 motor vehicle accident injuries, 61 burns, and 932 other incidents. Most of them she said were reportedly linked to alcohol abuse which she said is a social concern.
Social commentators attribute this abuse to a range of causes which include the lack of communication skills, the lack of constructive problem resolution skills, the lack of anger management skills, easy access to alcohol and other substances, the breakdown in family and community harmony, social malaise and propensity to crime due to unemployment and a community at war with itself.
Lefakane added that for the same period, the clinic also recorded eight medically related adult- and paediatric-related deaths.
She said the clinic’s good days were Christmas and New Year’s Day, where the clinic witnessed the birth of 12 babies respectively.
Details: Alex Clinic; 011 440 1231.
