While the department say only one person died, the DA insist that two people died as a result of negligence on the part of a hospital officials responsible for fueling the generator which failed to automatically switch on when electricity went off .
According to information received, Faith Malatji, who was admitted in the hospitals’ Intensive Care Unit (ICU) died when Eskom was implementing load shedding. It is alleged that Malatji, who was on a life support machine died when the hospital’s generator which apparently did not have diesel failed to switch on.
Departmental spokesperson, Joe Maila said the investigations will start this week to determine the cause of death (s).
Eskom’s spokesperson, Khutisa Ramotlou said the patients’ death is not Eskom’s fault. “The hospitals’ generator had insufficient diesel and Eskom cannot be blamed for that,” said Ramotlou.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the province has laid criminal charges on the department of health following the incident. DA’s spokesperson on health, Langa Bodlani said that an un-fueled or faulty generator is a recurring problem at Letaba.
He claims it was the fifth time the hospital generator did not have enough fuel to keep life support machines working.
DA claims two patients instead of one died. “It is scandalous that this gross negligence led to the death of two people. The Limpopo Department of Health is accountable and must put measures in place to ensure that all generators function all the time,” he said.
Faith’s uncle, Phillimon Malatji said the hospital did not inform them about his niece’s death and they only heard it on a radio bulletin. Bodlani maintains that the DA will on behalf of the bereaved family do the following: Get an independent pathologist to establish the cause and the time of death.
Assist the Malatji family to access legal recourse to take on the government and ensure that justice is done.
Ensure that hospital’s officials responsible for negligently causing the deaths of these patients are held accountable. Engage in a series of protest actions until the family’s demands are met.
“Our public healthcare system should be a model of excellence, empowering South Africans to live healthy and productive lives. There should be nothing less than full accountability for cases of extreme negligence, as witnessed at Letaba Hospital,” he said.
