Helen Joseph rape survivor takes a stand

The nurse, who was recently raped while on duty at Helen Joseph Hospital, has revealed her identity. She had initially requested to remain anonymous to protect her identity but on 15 September she agreed to have her photo taken and to be named by The Star. The paper reported that the nurse’s name is Bongiwe Mnguni.

She was raped on the fourth floor of the hospital.

Mnguni wanted to take a stand against poor hospital securities in the country, thus revealing her identity.

Some hospital employees said there is not enough security or infrastructure. One doctor who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said some of the hospital’s corridors do not have lights and there is no controlled access into the hospital.

“Since that incident, I am scared of what may happen. I think more has to be done to protect the staff and patients of this hospital. A lot of things are broken here and I wonder why we pay taxes,” she said.

According to DA shadow Health Minister Jack Bloom, millions of rands are allocated to public hospital security improvements each financial year.

“What value are we getting for the R6.5 million that is spent annually for the security contract to guard the Helen Joseph Hospital?” questioned Bloom.

Bloom said the costs are too high and he suspects corruption in the awarding of security contracts.

“I have long questioned the soaring costs of hospital security in Gauteng, and I suspect corruption in the award of certain contracts,

There are unexplained anomalies, such as why security at Edenvale Hospital costs R1.4 million a year, while similar size hospitals elsewhere pay three to four times as much,” he said.

Bloom further called on the Gauteng Health Department to speed up its security review and take a firm decision that ensures good security at a reasonable price.

Helen Joseph has numerous other problems. There are broken lifts and residents of Westdene on 15 and 16 September constantly complained about smoke coming from the hospital.

“They have been burning something and I think it’s medical waste in the hospital. I sent complaints to the Gauteng Health Department and they said they will look into it, but then it happened again. It smells disgusting,” said Mr Jacobs who lives a few hundred metres from the hospital.

Meanwhile, as the search for a suspect in the Helen Joseph Hospital attack continues, Mnguni, who was brutally assaulted, said her attacker might have been a staff member.

She said the attacker was wearing a pantyhose covering his face. He raped, gave her electro shocks and physically abused her.