Madiba birthday celebration focuses on changing the hospital sick bed stats whilst you are outside its security gates because when you are inside the gates, there is less or nothing you can contribute in 67 minutes or 67 months of a sustainable change.
Not only to emulate what Mandela did in his lifetime but for you to foster what you will uniquely do in your lifetime. Do anything that will impact our eMalahleni community no matter how minute and inconceivable it may look or sound. Any semblance to Madiba’s dignity and achievements remains a threat to non-performers.
After being appointed by Mpumalanga MEC for Health in the care of the Witbank TB Specialized Hospital (formally Santa Hospital), it became a prerogative to sensitise eMalahleni community about the highly infectious tuberculosis. Watch and be warned about the multi drug resistant (MDR) TB and the fatal extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB masquerading our homes as ordinary influenza.
eMalahleni has a high record of acid toxic polluted air, which has led to some local heavy industries facing punitive legal prosecutions for non-compliance to environmental clean air practices.
The TB hospital is not a mortuary, it is not an abattoir, neither is it human rubbish dumping site in isolation to our townships beaming with healthy individuals. The rich, poor, educated, unemployed, clever and politicians across race barriers brush the corridors of this TB hospital as patients.
It is a place of worship, with lively spiritual souls but lame and frail human bodies. An artist’s gallery, educational activist’s corner, author’s bungalow, a recluse of thinkers and sport enthusiasts count the night stars in these hospital sickbeds.
Whilst we are healthy to talk, walk, collectively act, or openly challenge, we can influence the caregivers’ attitudes to the sick on times, menus, referrals, safety, transport, building environments and sports facilities. There is no chance of complaining when you have to join the queue at 04:00 for the medical doctor at 10:00 because they do not listen to sick people, but listen to healthy people.
One of the penalties of refusing to participate in community work is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Albeit the unprecedented and traumatizing state of Mpumalanga Health’s curatorship (administration), it remains a misnomer to operate and preach health in a department which itself lies effortless and motionless in its own Intensive Care Unit (lCU). This precipitates laxity among active stakeholders.
Hope now lies with the poor civic society and local stakeholders who show signs of health to reduce hospital sickbeds with a ‘Wishing a speedy recovery’ card to the department and its MEC.
