The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Health Department has instituted an urgent investigation into an incident in which a 13-year-old boy was allegedly assaulted by two security guards at a hospital in Ladysmith.
This comes after a video circulated on social media showing two security guards assaulting the boy in his hospital bed. Denosa KZN provincial organiser, Sindisiwe Ngcobo says what’s seen on the video is just the tip of the iceberg of the challenges in the province’s health facilities.
“We have challenges with the mental healthcare users’ patients who are mixed with general patients in one ward. We’ve had a lot of assaults from these patients who assault other normal patients; they assault staff. But besides that, what has happened over the weekend is very disappointing because there’s no patient who is supposed to suffer any kind of abuse in the hospital. But we are very glad that we have learned that the security personnel who were involved have been suspended.”
EFF KWAZULU-NATAL STATEMENT ON PATIENT WHO WAS ASSAULTED BY SECURITY GUARDS AT LADYSMITH PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL pic.twitter.com/FVFkt0GRkp
— EFF KZN (@EFFKZN) October 1, 2023
