POLOKWANE – Angry patients at the clinic called Review earlier this morning complaining about a lack of services at the clinic and that the staff were on a go-slow.
Read more: Slow service still a problem at Rethabile Clinic
“This isn’t new,” explains one resident. “We will come to the clinic early and find people already sitting and waiting, and then the personnel will tell us that there are no nurses or clerks. This morning the admin personnel said they do not know when we will be helped and if they even will be working today.”
@PhophiRamathuba can you please awaken the management and the nursing staff of Rethabile Clinic we have been here for immunization only and all nurses have been on lunch frm 1pm and we are told they will back at 15:30pm.
— makhaba (@hlongwadan) February 17, 2018
Please come to rethabile clinic they having fun there no proper service.
— Moshitadi (@Moshitadi2) April 30, 2018
Following up on the phone call, Review sent two journalists, Maretha Swanepoel and Nadia Bradbury to the clinic where, after photos were being taken to show the MEC of Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, Maretha was verbally and physically attacked by the security and personnel.
Review is a community newspaper, reporting on matters that concern the community. If a public institution like Rethabile Clinic doesn’t deliver their services to the public, the paper should investigate, as it is in the interest of the public and patients to know what is going on.
“The security and personnel first verbally attacked me, screaming at me. They then grabbed me and pulled me. My shirt was ripped open and I felt people pulling on my arms, legs and body and at the same time they were pushing me. Eventually they let me go, but if I planned to move, they were ready to grab me again. I begged them for fresh air and after a while they took Nadia and I into an office where they kept us. There did not want us to go or to even call our editor. They insisted to have my phone, which at the time, I did not have. They insisted that we cannot leave before they have my phone. I kept on saying I do not have it. When the chance arose for us to get out, we ran towards the gate. Here they grabbed us again, roughly, and locked the gates with handcuffs. We were kept illegally. We were eventually released when a man told the security that they were holding us against our will. I feel really violated. I am shaken. I can only think of all the people who witnessed this, how must they feel?” Maretha said.
In the video, a security guard is ushering Nadia and Maretha to the room where they were locked in for taking pictures of patients waiting for service inside the clinic.
Nadia Bradbury, who was with Maretha at the time, gave the following account:
“The whole incident took place so quickly and at first, I had no idea what was going on nor why the security guards were pulling and pushing Maretha and man-handling her as it was clear that she did not fight back. They were like a pack of wild dogs wanting to lull a carouse apart and I immediately rushed to her aid as no one seemed to be helping her. In the madness I could hear the one of the guards shouting at her to give her the phone. It was clear that she couldn’t respond as about four guards were pulling her in different ways. I approached the guard and demanded that they explain what they were doing. She aggressively shouted at me that there are no cameras allowed in the building. At that stage, I pointed it out that at that very moment someone was standing behind her making a video recording of the buzz and she responded saying she could see the man recording and he isn’t doing something of that sort. This whole debacle was extremely bad, especially since there were no clerks available to help any of the masses of patients that needed medical attention. I also spoke with another bystander and they claim that they have been here every day for a week from six in the morning just to be left without care. But after witnessing the manner in which the staff members dealt with a silly situation, I doubt that we will ever come back here.”
Review has since made contact with the MEC for Health in the province, Dr Phophi Ramthuba to relay the incident. She responded by saying she referred the matter to the spokesperson, Neil Shikwambano, who will only be able to comment on Tuesday.
