The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has written to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) regarding the conditions at the labour ward of Mapulaneng Hospital in Bushbuckridge.
It has come to the DA’s attention that there is no water and there are no beds in some of the rooms allocated for women who are in labour. There are also reports of nurses continuously verbally abusing patients.
Especially concerning is that last week a woman gave birth in the toilets at the hospital. Instead of her being helped, the nurses apparently told her to come out with the baby because they don’t deliver babies in toilets.
The DA condemns this abuse of pregnant women by health workers in the strongest terms. The DA will submit the evidence including pictures to the Human Rights Commission for urgent investigation.
Mapulaneng hospital hasn’t had water for a very long time and desperate appeals to the Mpumalanga Department of Health to ensure consistent water supply to the hospital has fallen on deaf ears.
The Department of Health is turning a blind eye to what is happening in Mapulaneng Hospital.
Patients have to fetch their own water outside in the tanks. They have to bath with cold water because the hospital doesn’t have hot water.
Mapulaneng Hospital registered its first Covid-19 case in April and currently, there is no social distancing because all pregnant women are packed in one room.
We cannot turn a blind eye to the blatant human rights violations happening at this hospital and we have asked the SAHRC to intervene urgently.