April 18, 2012Produced by Amos Phago
Special Assignment highlights the ongoing health crisis in the Limpopo Province. Over time, reports have indicated that most of the province’s hospitals have been running without essential medication, staff and food shortages. Others, like the Mankweng hospital, are said to have been stuck with dirty laundry and a dysfunctional mortuary service for a considerable period. Furthermore, the lack of resources has resulted in inefficient emergency services and malfunctioning equipment which have compromised the quality of public health in the province. As a result, loss of life has been alleged and experts point to a need to deal with systematic problems and management failures.
However, behind these failures are human beings who are at the receiving end of these sub-standard health services, many of whom feel helpless about their options for redress. One of these is 36-year old wheelchair bound Thembi Mahlangu from Mahwelereng near Mokopane. She currently suffers from serious respiratory problems allegedly following an incident where nurses at the Mahwelereng clinic left her in a room where an oxygen cylinder had exploded.
SABC 3 at 9:30pm
She says she was later given wrong prescription medication which caused deterioration in her condition, until she was advised to seek private medical help. The Human Rights Commission is currently considering her application for intervention.
Another case involves Michael Legodi who has been using crutches for almost two years following a car accident but cannot receive post operation care because the staff members at the Seshego hospital have lost his medical file. Experts warn that the kind of treatment meted on ordinary people who depend on public health care for survival devalues human life and is in contravention of the constitution.
– By
