Family of man in viral maggot video to sue hospital and province

16 July 2019 - 06:00 By Orrin Singh
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The family of Sadek Ebrahim have pursued legal action following a video which went viral showing maggots in the mouth of the 52-year-old Chatsworth man.

The video was taken by Ebrahim's son at RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, south Durban, in June after he was admitted for an operation related to an infection on his leg.

Azaad Ebrahim said he lost his temper at the sight of maggots squirming in his father's mouth, who suffered a major stroke in 2014, leaving him unable to move or talk. 

Azaad told TimesLIVE that the reason they were pursuing legal action was because he did not want anyone else to go through what his father went through.

Theasen Pillay, the family's attorney, confirmed that they were formalising a claim against the hospital and the KwaZulu-Natal department of health.

"It is a general damages claim for the suffering and trauma caused to the family of the patient. A summons will be issued but we have to give 30 days' notice before that," said Pillay.

Last week the department set in motion the redeployment of Dr Prakash Subban, the hospital's CEO.

The department's decision followed public outcry after the video of Ebrahim went viral on social media.

Nqobile Mkhwanazi, CEO of Queen Nandi Memorial Hospital at Empangeni, joined RK Khan Hospital temporarily on Monday.

Subban will be deployed to help with the management of St Aidan's Hospital, which provides specialised urology and renal services, among others.


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