Financial blow as criminals target Khanya Hospice house
Khanya Hospice is always in need of donations and often does fundraising to help support its free palliative nursing care.
In just 18 months, the Khanya Hospice house in Umkomaas has dealt with a number of attempted break ins and theft which has hit the non-profit organisation hard financially.
Last week, Khanya Hospice CEO Neil McDonald arrived at the house to find that the electric gate motor had been stolen.
“Not only was the motor ripped out, even the cement around it was messed up,” said McDonald.
He also discovered two bricks lying at the scene of the crime which led him to believe that they were used to hammer and break the metal casing where the motor was screwed onto.
A piece of white conduit was sticking out with the electric wire where it had been cut off.
“It was devastating just looking at the aftermath and thinking about how they broke and damaged the cement just to get their hands on the motor,” he said.
“We are all fuming, insurance only covers things inside the offices and this is really a financial blow to us.”
A few months ago, all the water pipes were stolen, as well as outside taps.
Then the the municipal water meter outside the house was also stolen.
A few times windows were broken in the building in an attempt to get inside, but the perpetrators were scared off when the alarm went off.
“We had to pay to replace windows and everything else that was stolen, and now I have to pay someone to come and put in a new gate motor,” said McDonald.
Khanya Hospice is always in need of donations and often does fundraising to help support its free palliative nursing care.
Due to these criminal activities, McDonald stated that money would now have to be spent replacing what was stolen.
“It’s absolutely horrible because we could have spent that money on patient care,” he said.
McDonald and the rest of the team request communities to help them overcome this financial difficulty by donating to hospice.
Money is also needed to upgrade the house and help secure it better.
The hospice house is 100 years old and requires plumbing, electrical work, garden maintenance, painting and more, but there is just not enough money to do any of this, or to secure the house better to potentially stop criminals.
“We’re also in need of a building contractor to help with small alterations to the house, but we cannot afford it at this point and need public assistance more than ever,” said McDonald.
Contact Khanya Hospice via email on hospice@khanyahospice.co.za or Neil McDonald on 083 5978985 should you be willing to assist.
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