Concerns as more Mpumalanga healthcare facilities fall under attack

The calls for tighter security in all public healthcare facilities are mounting.

This, shortly after yet another public healthcare facility in Phola fell under the latest statistics. According to a police report, an ambulance was hijacked at the Phola Nsikazi Clinic’s premises in the early hours of Sunday June 25.

The emergency management personnel in the ambulance were confronted by three suspects after returning to the clinic from a call-out duty.

Two of the suspects allegedly held up the security personnel at gunpoint and took their personal belongings and security equipment, including handcuffs, while the third suspect took the ambulance inside the clinic premises by force, with the paramedics still onboard.

This incident happened just seven days after armed gangsters had held Carolina Hospital healthcare workers at gunpoint, robbing them of their belongings.

Reacting to these incidents, the DA’s provincial leader, Jane Sithole, called on the provincial government and the Department of Health to urgently implement safety measures to beef up security at healthcare centres across the province.

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“It seems that providing security at Mpumalanga healthcare institutions is not a priority to the provincial government and the health department. Since 2018, there have been several security breaches reported in Mpumalanga hospitals and clinics, in which unarmed security guards have frequently been overpowered by armed criminals. This even led to several strikes from healthcare workers. Government must urgently put precautionary measures in place to strengthen security in all healthcare centres across the province,” said Sithole.

In 2019, a mob of people from a nearby tavern entered the Witbank Hospital in eMalahleni and held the doctors and nurses at gunpoint, demanding they stop treating the victims of a fight at a bar. A patient who was admitted for gunshot wounds was gunned down in the hospital’s later that same week.

In 2021, the Barberton Hospital came under attack when a local soccer match turned deadly, and a member of the public was shot at the hospital gates.
In another incident that year, a pregnant patient was allegedly raped by a general worker at the eMbhuleni Hospital in Nhlazatshe.

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The EFF also joined the calls for more security personnel in clinics and hospitals.

Collen Sedibe, the provincial EFF’s leader, said, “We have been calling for the deployment of more security officials in clinics and hospitals, but the department and provincial government clearly think it’s not important to do so. We will continue to make noise and fight until all our healthcare facilities are safe and have tight security. In our debate during the recent budget speech, we argued that the allocated budget was not enough, as we felt there is a huge need for security in clinics and hospitals. We said this because we understood what is going on on the ground.”