MBOMBELA – Mr Dingaan Mngomezulu (34) was finally operated on last week – almost two months after the High Court in Gauteng had ordered the provincial Department of Health to immediately render him the necessary treatment to have his broken leg repaired.
Mngomezulu has already been discharged from Rob Ferreira Hospital and is recuperating at his home near Hazyview after having received surgery on his right femur on Tuesday.
“It has been a long and difficult road, but we have managed to succeed. This has far-reaching effects for those in similar situations, with no hope in sight,” said Ms Lesley Anne Breytenbach of De Meyer De Vries Attorneys, who instituted legal action against the department after Mngomezulu had suffered the fracture in April and was left to lie in traction in Matikwane Hospital for months, with no signs of improvement.
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After three months a family friend took him to Dr Corné Ackermann, a private orthopaedic surgeon who found that, not only had his broken leg shortened by at least five centimetres, but that surgical intervention was his only hope of ever walking again.
Armed with Ackermann’s report, the family friend sought Breytenbach’s help and she brought an urgent application before the High Court. The matter was finally heard in October and judge Mr Hans Fabricius ruled that, not only should Mngomezulu be rendered the necessary care immediately, but he (Fabricius) should receive weekly updates on the patient’s progress.
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Immediate intervention would have entailed surgery. However, the department seemed to have been unperturbed by the court order, merely ordering Mngomezulu to be readmitted to Matikwane where surgery couldn’t be performed in the first place since it was only a district hospital.
He was then transferred to Themba where the operation also couldn’t be performed because of a lack of orthopaedic pins. Later, an underlying medical condition of Mngomezulu was given as an excuse. A private physician, having had insight into the case, said the condition was in no way contraindicative of surgery.
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At one point Mngomezulu was even taken to Steve Biko Hospital in Gauteng, only to be transferred back to Rob Ferreira before being taken to Themba again. He and his family were ecstatic when he was finally wheeled into theatre on Tuesday, bringing a nightmare of seven months to an end.
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Meanwhile, MEC for finance Mr Eric Kholwane announced that R60 million will be allocated to address the surgical
backlog in the province. Lowvelder approached spokesman for health, Mr Dumisani Malamule, for comment on how the department was planning on utilising the money to appoint more surgeons and perform the necessary surgeries.
He didn’t respond.
