MP gets death threats after shocking patient care is exposed at hospital in Mpumalanga

30 March 2017 - 10:23 By TMG Digital
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Matikwane Hospital in Hazyview‚ Mpumalanga.
Matikwane Hospital in Hazyview‚ Mpumalanga.
Image: Google photo

The head of a parliamentary committee received death threats just hours after exposing “inexcusable” levels of medical care for patients at Matikwane Hospital in Hazyview‚ Mpumalanga.

Dr Makhosi Khoza‚ chair of the portfolio committee on public service and administration‚ received threatening calls over two days – one even revealing her exact whereabouts.

The committee paid an unannounced visit to the hospital this week and was “alarmed by the inexcusable service being rendered by healthcare officials” at the facility.

The committee wrapped up a two-day visit to Mpumalanga to assess the quality of services rendered to people in the province on Wednesday.

Its diagnosis of the problems at Matikwane Hospital was scathing.

“What disappointed the committee the most was the lethargic manner with which people are treated at the facility. One elderly patient had reported to the hospital on two consecutive days without getting the much-needed treatment. This is completely unacceptable and must be adequately addressed‚” said Khoza.

More cause for alarm was the discovery that the hospital did not have an in-house laundry service‚ resulting in a “continuous struggle with laundry and the loss of inventory”‚ as linen is shuttled between the hospital and a service provider.

Khoza‚ speaking on talk radio 702 on Thursday‚ said hospital management misled the committee during the oversight visit about the level of care offered to patients.

“Despite the information we were given about a two-hour turnaround time … from the time you come into the hospital up to the time you leave‚ we actually discovered patients had been there for two days and they had not even been given their files‚” she said.

The committee expressed its disgust at the situation and Khoza explained what it had found in a radio interview afterwards. A hospital executive‚ whom she knew‚ phoned immediately afterwards.

“He was furious and he was telling me‚ how dare I speak to the media about what is happening in Mpumalanga.” He made several threats.

Then‚ she said: “In the early hours of the morning … I received a call that was very detailed about my whole travel from the time I left until I got to the hotel I was going to check in at‚ even the room number.”

Parliament has condemned the threats and has reported the incident to law enforcement agencies for investigation.

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