Nearly two years after a man died after falling into a bath of hot water at Dundee Hospital, his family is still waiting for an official report from health authorities.
Mbuyiseni Newman Lunga, who was 57 at the time, was admitted to the hospital on October 15, 2014, suffering from a chest complaint.
On October 21, his sister, Khuthazile Mthembu, was contacted in the Dannhauser area and told that her brother had suffered severe burns after falling into a bath of hot water.
When she questioned hospital authorities as to why her brother had not used the showers adjacent to ward 7, she was told that there ‘was no hot water in the showers’.
Mbuyiseni died of his injuries on November 10 and the family was promised a report following an investigation into his death.
This never happened.
Khuthazile told the Courier the family was only contacted earlier this year and this only after she had sought help from an official at Dannhauser municipality who took up the matter with Dundee Hospital.
“I was later contacted by a hospital official to arrange a meeting.
“There was a woman official at the meeting who told us they want to apologise.
“But this is not good enough. A life has been lost and we do not know the full circumstances after all this time.”
The Courier has contacted the health authorities for comment. They acknowledged receiving the complaint but have not yet given any further explanation. This will hopefully be in time for publication next week.