Nurse, security guard and two doctors implicated in tying 76-year-old to hospital bench

A nurse, security guard and two doctors implicated in tying 76-year-old Martha Marais to a bench at Mamelodi hospital have been put on special leave.

Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku visited the Marais family on Sunday after video footage showing her tied up on the floor went viral.

She was referred to the hospital for treatment as she had been feeling unwell on Tuesday morning, said her daughter.

"We have done our preliminary investigation and we have received reports. The reports have revealed four individuals who were involved and who are on special leave pending their suspension," Masuku said.

The report, according to Masuku, identified a number of challenges regarding how Marais was treated as well as capacity issues relating to management and infrastructure.

According to the department, two doctors, a nurse and a security guard were served with letters asking for representations on why they should not be suspended. They have, in the meantime, been put on special leave.

"After that we will be entering into a full-blown investigation, which will be independent. We welcome the involvement of the Human Rights Commission to do their own investigation which will hopefully correlate what we find," Masuku said.

He said the implicated health workers needed to be held accountable.

"We have done a preliminary redress with the family… we are going to continue to give psychological and social support to the family because it is traumatic and something that should not be done to a human being, especially people who come to our facilities for help."

"We are committed to making sure that we change things around for our people in Gauteng and to also help our staff members with the difficulties they face... They work very hard and I think they feel that we don’t appreciate those who are putting extra effort."