'Chaos' around hospital in North West

Ambulances were prevented from entering Tshepong Hospital as protests continued to flare up on Wednesday in the North West.

Professor Ebrahim Variyava‚ a doctor at the hospital‚ told the SABC that protesters had been burning tyres outside. 

“We are really concerned that our patients who are in ICU‚ in the various wards‚ are not going to be seen by clinicians – and I am uncertain about how many nurses there still are‚ because the nurses would have been on from last night‚” he said.

It was not immediately clear if the protest was related to an ongoing health worker’s strike in the province or calls for a shutdown by Saftu.

There were reports on social media of shops being looted overnight in and around Klerksdorp.

The Rural Health Advocacy Project tweeted on Wednesday that there was “chaos” outside Tshepong Hospital.

There were also unconfirmed reports of gunshots in the area.

This is a developing story.