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Parliament’s health committee calls on police to arrest Sama chairperson’s attackers
Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa is recovering in hospital after being stabbed multiple times in the chest.
South African Medical Association (Sama) chairperson Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa. Picture: Supplied.
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health has called on police to leave no stone unturned in finding the perpetrators behind the attack on the chairperson of the South African Medical Association (Sama), Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa.
Mzukwa was stabbed multiple times in his chest and had to drive himself to a hospital on Saturday, after he was accosted by unknown assailants on the side of the road while driving home from King Shaka International Airport in Durban.
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He was on his way back from a Sama board meeting and the motive for the attack was unclear at this stage.
The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Kenneth Jacobs, on Monday said the committee had learned with shock about the attack on the Sama chairperson.
Jacobs wished Mzukwa a speedy recovery and healing, saying the committee condemned the attack in the strongest terms.
“The committee condemns this act of criminality and barbarism in the strongest terms. We are also calling on motorists to be extra vigilant on the road as criminals are becoming more ruthless every day,” Jacobs said in a statement.
The committee called on the South African Police Service (Saps) and other relevant law enforcement agencies to do everything in their power to find the attackers.
“Whoever has committed this act deserves to rot in jail. We are trusting that the police are going to find the perpetrator or a gang of perpetrators.”
The Department of Health also wished Mzukwa a speedy recovery following the attack.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, visited Dr Mzukwa in hospital in Durban on Sunday.
“I was very heartened to find him on his recovery bed and commended him for his heroic action of driving himself while bleeding and in pain to the nearest hospital to save his life, because had he waited a bit longer, his condition could have deteriorated.
“We would also like to thank the emergency medical services, nursing staff and police for swift response,” said Dr Dhlomo.
Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe. Additional reporting by Faizel Patel
