-
Outside Sokhulu Clinic in KwaMbonambi in northern KwaZulu-Natal
Residents of KwaMbonambi in northern KwaZulu-Natal are calling on the MEC for health in the province, Nomagugu Simelane, to urgently intervene over what they describe as poor service delivery at Sokhulu Clinic.
Community members accuse clinic staff of negligence and mistreating patients seeking medical care.
The clinic serves more than 15 000 people in the rural area each month, while the nearest hospital is about an hour away.
Some residents claim they have been turned away while seeking treatment and forced to hire private transport to other healthcare facilities.
Resident, Ngenzeni Mbuyazi, says she was once turned away with her six-year-old son, who suffers from asthma, during official operating hours because staff had allegedly closed early.
Mbuyazi says, “When I got to the clinic at 15:30, I was told it’s now closed. At that time, my child could barely breathe; the air was no longer coming out. I went to the security at the gate, and they told me the clinic is closed.”
“I cried because I did not know what to do, and I could see that my child was dying, and I didn’t know what to do. I hired a car, which rushed me to a crossing clinic, which booked me to Queen Nandi Hospital, where the child was admitted, and I stayed with him for five days there.”
“In this clinic, you wait for 30 minutes to an hour with a child suffering from asthma without getting any help.”
Another resident, Zethu Mthembu, says her family has also experienced difficulties at the clinic.
Mthembu says her younger sister was recently turned away despite being critically ill.
She also claims her father died after being taken to the clinic, raising concerns about the quality of treatment provided to patients.
“We wish to see change in this clinic because it’s the one we have and we rely on it for help.”
“Even when I brought my ill father here, there was a nurse who asked us why we brought him here, and indeed my father died, meaning she saw that my father was not going to make it.”
“We have serious complaints about the conduct of the staff in this clinic; they are treating us really badly.”
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health had not responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting.
