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Mpumalanga Health Dept accused of negligence

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The Department of Health in Mpumalanga has been blamed following the decomposition of bodies in a mortuary at the Themba Hospital in KaBokweni.

Following an assessment that was done by the Ehlanzeni District Municipality’s Environmental Health Management, it has been discovered that  some of the refrigerators at the mortuary have been  out of order for more than four weeks now.

It is also alleged two bodies were stored in one compartment.

Municipality says the facility is operating without a certificate of competency.

The report further states that out of 60 body compartments, only 12 are working properly.

The other allegations are that the drain of the mortuary is not working effectively and  has blocked on several occasions.

Ehlanzeni District Municipality’s Spokesperson, Lucky Ngomane says the condition of the mortuary is a health hazard.

“As a result, they had to put people two-by-two at times because only few were having that coldness that is required. Some people can be very disturbed in this situation, especially the people who are working there. The sicknesses can be contaminated (sic) at any time. The public and the people who are working there are at risk.”

But the Department of Health in Mpumalanga says the situation is not dire.

Departmental Spokesperson Dumisani Malamule says all the bodies at the mortuary are of paupers and have already been buried.

Malamule also says they have requested the local mortuaries and other hospitals to assist while they are busy with processes of repairing.

He says about R1 million has been set aside for repairing the mortuary.

“In the 36 fridges, we had kept bodies of people who are unknown those that we call paupers. We have since made an arrangement and those bodies were moved and they were buried which means that the 36 broken fridges and 20 in the hospital there are no bodies that have been kept there. We are busy finalising process of fixing the fridges. What has happened is that we discovered that the compressors in those fridges have broken down. Unfortunately, we cannot fix those compressors. What needs to happen for us is to replace those compressors.”

However, the Ehlanzeni District Municipality says the hospital has been given until Friday to ensure that the mortuary is repaired.

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