Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has announced the appointment of a special task team to find a way to remove monkeys invading the RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, south of Durban.
Motsoaledi visited the facility after a video had gone viral on social networks, showing monkeys loitering near the hospital and others playing inside a ward, packed with patients.
Motsoaledi says measures should be put in place to ensure the safety of patients.
Community members and visitors at the hospital say the monkey invasion has been going on for more than a year.
They are worried about the health and safety of their loved ones.
A community member says: “It’s bad at they carry diseases such as rabies. At home I can have 20 to 30 monkeys in the house stealing food and breaking things. It is the same situation in this hospital. I’ve seen them attacking people and grabbing packets of food. We waited quite long and nothing has been done.”
