Health minister condemns acts of violence at Themba Hospital
The almost three-week shutdown of Themba Hospital due to community unrest has prompted South Africa’s minister of health Dr Joe Phaahla to speak out on the incident.
The recent disruption of services at Themba Hospital has left the minister of health, Dr Joe Phaahla, fuming and shocked.
This hospital has been making news headlines after it had to be closed for almost three weeks due to the community unrest recently taking place in the area.
According to information, a group of community members and a grouping who call themselves the KaBokweni Business Forum allegedly stormed Themba Hospital on April 4, when they demanded a meeting with the management, but the situation escalated and turned violent. In the process, some doctors and nurses were allegedly assaulted, which resulted in health unions advising their workers to down tools until it was safe for them to return to work.
The premier, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, and health MEC, Sasekani Manzini, who had been hands-on since the unrests started, having several meetings and engagements with the hospital management, unions and community members, visited the hospital and promised to beef up security.
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Services at the hospital were finally back on track as of last Monday, April 15.
“The recent acts of violence committed in Themba Hospital, which threatened the safety and security of the health workers, patients, service providers and infrastructure, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. These acts disrupt the provision of essential health services, and threaten the safety and security of health workers, patients and health infrastructure,” said Phaahla.
“We welcome the swift response and interventions by members of the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies to normalise the situation to enable the health workers to perform their life-saving duties in a safe and protected environment without disruption and acts of violence, and at the same time enable the patients to access essential health service, including life-saving treatment. The government will continue to respond proportionally to these criminal acts to protect those who need help in the hospital, the healthcare workers and the healthcare infrastructure we have.”
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Phaahla said they are already working with the police to ensure that healthcare service continues undisrupted and to prevent future incidences.
“We want to assure the healthcare workers and community at large that the similar acts will not happen unattended, and will be responded with speed and appropriately. The National Department of Health and the police signed a memorandum of agreement in 2019, committing to co-operate to ensure the security and safety of patients, workers in the health facility and the entire infrastructure. The SAPS will deploy a dedicated team to ensure security of the facility.”
He said the government will not entertain any form of anarchy in its facilities.
“We follow normal procurement processes like any other public institution. We implore people to exercise their constitutional rights to protest peacefully within the confines of the law, without infringing the rights to life by others and access to healthcare. We can confirm that no lives have been lost in the facility due to the recent unfortunate violent incidents, but a number of patients couldn’t access their chronic medication, while some planned surgeries had to be rescheduled. Other patients were transferred to nearby hospitals, while stable patients were discharged. The situation is now under control and the hospital is fully operational. Staff members are back at work,” confirmed Phaahla.
