Former mayor of Johannesburg Mpho Moerane. Picture: Neil McCartney
Former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Moerane remains in a critical condition in hospital, according to his family.
The family’s spokesperson Mike Maile on Wednesday briefed the media outside Joburg’s Milpark Hospital on Moerane’s condition.
Maile said while Moerane was unconscious, he was stable and recovering after he was involved in a car accident last week.
“He is still critical; there hasn’t been much change since our last communication with the media. We have spoken to the doctors and they’re still trying their best.
“At this stage, there hasn’t been any improvement. He is critical but he is stable as we speak,” he said.
Moerane, who is the ANC’s caucus leader in Joburg, was the mayor of the metro for a month in October last year, after the death of his predecessor, Jolidee Matongo, in September, following a car accident.
At the weekend, Moerane’s family condemned false reports circulating on social media about his death, saying they were “inhumane and hurtful”.
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Maile said the family suspected that the source of the reports came from staff working at Milpark Hospital, who feed the false information to the media.
“Unfortunately, I think there has been unprofessionalism on the part of the hospital staff because our suspicion is that they’re the source of the rumour. They speak to journalists and that’s how the rumour spread.”
He said at this stage the family was not considering taking action against the private hospital as they were focused on Moerane’s recovery.
“Our concern right now is Mpho’s wellbeing and we are focusing all our energies on him to get well,” Maile said.
Leaders of the ANC in Ekurhuleni, who also visited Moerane in hospital on Wednesday, appealed to the public to give the family space to provide support to the former mayor to ensure his full recovery.
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