PREMIUM!
Court orders Gauteng health MEC to pay R17m
A Randfontein mother's prematurely born girl sustained brain injuries due to shoddy care during and after her birth at Leratong hospital.
A baby bed is pictured at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospital, 8 November 2018. Picture for illustrative purposes only. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
Gauteng health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa has been ordered to pay over R17 million to a Randfontein mother and her six-year-old daughter who suffered severe brain damage because of shoddy care during and after her birth at Leratong hospital in the West Rand.
Judge Elizabeth Kubushi granted an order in the High Court in Pretoria yesterday that the MEC must pay the amount into a trust which will benefit the girl for the rest of her life.
Her unemployed mother, 29, initially claimed for more than R30 million after she gave birth prematurely on December 25, 2011, but was sent home the next day despite her daughter not breathing properly or crying, not sucking and was blue around her mouth.
The mother claimed in court papers her daughter sustained severe brain damage as a result of her early discharge.
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