POLOKWANE – Pediatricians preparing for an emergency caeserian on Saturday evening at the Mankweng Hospital were lucky to escape with no injuries after the female changeroom next to the theatre’s ceiling collapsed.
A doctor at the hospital says it is concerning that the ceiling collapsed and the incident reminded her of a similar event at the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg when a section of a roof on the fifth floor collapsed at the beginning of March, leaving five people injured.
You can also read: Watch: Video of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital entrance collapse
“Most of the infrastructure at the Mankweng Hospital is old, which might be the reason the ceiling collapsed. It should be a wake-up call for the Department of Health to refurbish and maintain the old hospitals,” she said.
Clearing up the debris of the collapsed ceiling was quickly conducted and services at the hospital was swiftly resumed.
The MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba said the ceiling collapsed due to a suspected leakage, but the leak has since been repaired.
“These things happen, it is not only at Mankweng Hospital where these incidents happen, a similar incident occurred when I was working at the Voortrekker Hospital.
“We have officers dealing with maintenance, but they didn’t notice the leak which caused the ceiling to collapsed.
“This happened due to the lack of artisans to do routine maintenance at Limpopo provincial healthcare facilities.
“‘The Premier, Stanley Mathabatha referred to this shortage of skills in his State of the Province Address in February.
“The department has a budget for maintenance, which will be officially tabled during the provincial health budget announcement in legislature,” said Ramathuba.
The ANC Provincial Secretary, Nocks Seabi in his ANC Lekgotla statement noted the lack of leadership at some healthcare facilities, resulting in people receiving poor services.
“Despite healthcare being our priority the Department of Health is being chronically underfunded resulting in compromising healthcare needs,” he said.
