KZN health MEC didn't ban us from hospitals: Human Rights Commission

The South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) says it was not denied access to two hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal by MEC of Health Sibongiseni Dhlomo.

Instead‚ the visits were “unannounced monitoring visits‚ which neither the MEC nor the hospital authorities would have been aware of beforehand”.

The commission said in a statement on Friday that media reports that Dhlomo had denied the HRC access to oncology sites during an oversight visit were misleading.

“In its submission to the Parliamentary portfolio committee‚ the SAHRC reported that its monitoring of oncology sites had been constrained due to it being denied access to Addington and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital [on August 23].

In its submission‚ the SAHRC reported that access had been denied by security guards at the gates on the basis that the guards are not allowed to give access to unauthorised persons‚” the commission said.

“There has been no indication that the actions of the security guards emanated from an instruction from the top echelon of the KZN Department of Health or even from the leadership of the two hospitals.”

The HRC said it was working with province’s Department of Health on find a solution to the oncology crisis in KwaZulu-Natal‚ where people with cancer struggled to get treatment.

In July‚ Dhlomo had told the HRC that‚ based on an assessment by the manufacturers and suppliers‚ one of the two radiotherapy treatment machines (VRALA) at Addington Hospital could be repaired within a relatively short time‚ while the other would take a longer time to fix.

The HRC said it has written to the MEC asking for an update on the state of the second machine. The HRC said the resolution of the treatment crisis “is a matter of life and death for people living with cancer”.

Another of the HRC’s recommendations included the recruitment of relevant staff members.