‘Suspicious’ death of pregnant woman probed – General Justice Gizenga Memorial Hospital
'Unfortunately, this 23-year-old who passed away was pregnant and lost her life along with her baby when she got to the hospital.'
AN investigation is underway into the ‘suspicious’ death of a 23-year-old mother and her unborn baby at the General Justice Gizenga Memorial Hospital, formerly known as Stanger Hospital, last week.
First-time mother, Sithembile Shabane lost her life in the early hours of Saturday.
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu on Tuesday said the probe will look into allegations of staff negligence, the delayed arrival of the ambulance that eventually transported her to the hospital and how Shabane was further managed at the hospital.
‘We received a call on Saturday from a resident as well as from the local councillor, complaining that a young person had died under suspicious circumstances.
‘Unfortunately, this 23-year-old who passed away was pregnant and lost her life along with her baby when she got to the hospital.
‘The community was quite upset by this as there were allegations of negligence on the part of the staff, so we had to come here to see for ourselves and engage with the staff as well as the community and find out what actually happened.
‘Fortunately, the family was represented and the community was there and we were able to have a discussion,’ said Simelane-Zulu.
She promised that stern action will be taken against anyone found guilty of negligence.
‘We agreed that we are going to get a report in a month’s time and we will have a report-back session at this clinic.
‘However, there will be investigations by the Department and we will follow up as soon as we’ve received that report,’ the MEC said.
Vusi Hlekwayo, a representative of the Shabane family commended the MEC for her speedy intervention.
‘We are glad that the MEC has come over to see the situation. But we are sad that we’ve just lost our loved one due to the ‘negligence’ that occurred at a government hospital.
‘It gives us great pain that someone has passed away due to ‘inadequate’ care.
‘We plead with the MEC for this matter not to be taken lightly, and followed through to a point where we are satisfied as a family,’ Hlekwayo said.
