A father from Themba View Ext 1 in Hammanskraal says he spent two nights and three days at Jubilee Hospital waiting for his 12-year-old son to be admitted.
Thapelo Mabasa told TimesLIVE Premium hospital staff scrambled to find a bed for his son, Tshepiso, after he threatened to leave the hospital and treat him at home.
“He had been sleeping on a chair for almost three days, not being attended [to] by nurses. They put a drip on him and left him like that. I threw a fit when I saw the drip reversing and drawing blood from him.
“This is someone who is sick, dehydrated and needing proper rest so he can recover. I felt he was not getting that on a chair while we were stuck at the casualty ward.”
According to the father, they arrived at the hospital on Monday morning and his son was only given a bed on Wednesday afternoon.
He said he was furious and told staff he is taking his child home.
“When [we] were supposed to leave, one of the superiors came and asked that I give them a chance and I did. Immediately after that my son was given a bed and taken to a ward."
His two other children were in hospital for five days after being admitted on Wednesday.
They allegedly became ill after drinking water delivered by a tanker truck last Monday, he said.
Though they have tap water in their yard, Mabasa says they have not been drinking from it for more than five years.
The water was fetched from the tanker by his daughter Promise, 18.
She filled four 25l containers and put them on a wheelbarrow, as she does every week when the truck arrives.
“I don't know what was in that water, but something was wrong.
“I believe my children survived by the grace of God. We saw their health deteriorate quickly in from of our eyes.”
According to Mabasa, the first two children who became ill on Thursday with stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting.
“We tried to give them a homemade solution for diarrhoea, but they were vomiting, so it didn't help,” he said.
By Friday he said Tshepo and 18-month-old Dudu were weak.
“Their lips had turned black, they were pale and their eyes had sunken. It was bad, and when I heard on the news that people are dying, I was scared for them,” he said.
Their lips had turned black, they were pale and their eyes had sunken. It was bad and when I heard on the news that people are dying, I was scared for them.
They took them to the clinic and were immediately referred to the hospital, where they have been receiving treatment since.
“They are responding well to treatment, but I'm still angry that they got the illness from water that we trusted and expected to be safer than the tap water,” he said.
Mabasa says though he can't afford to buy bottled water, he is doing so since his children fell ill because he doesn't want to take any chances.
“It's one expense that I have to figure out how to fund because I don't want my family to go through this ever again,” he said.
Mabasa is self-employed and makes a living by selling live chickens and vegetables. Since the sickness of his children, he says he has been unable to run his business.
While he is grateful that his children are on the road to recovery, he says he still has questions about how the infection only went to some of his family members, and not the others, as they all drink from the same water source.
“I don't understand how this cholera works, [because] it's only these three children that fell ill. My other three children, myself and their mother are not sick, though we drank the same water.
“The rest of us are OK. We are not experiencing any problem,” he said.
Mabasa said he will never trust water from trucks, and they will never use it ever again.
Head of communication at the Gauteng department of health Motalatale Modiba said there were nurses at the casualty department who monitored all patients, including Mabasa's son.
“Tshepiso had a drip on him and patients are given fluids upon arrival depending on their conditions and wait to be seen by doctors,” Modiba said.
He also said it is inaccurate to say Jubilee District Hospital has a shortage of beds.
“The facility has a 300 bedded Alternative Building Technology structure which is well equipped. This is in addition to the old hospital.
“The facility opened an additional ward which is 35-bedded, to admit patients who are confirmed positive for cholera. In another ward, the facility admits patients who are suspected of cholera and still waiting for results, as a means of segregating them from other patients without gastrointestinal symptoms,” Modiba said.
On staffing, Modiba said there is enough staff as some of the nurses at Jubilee hospital were working overtime and the hospital has nurses from other institutions assisting due to the outbreak.
He also said Jubilee had a huge catchment area as it is the only health facility in the north of Pretoria and is on the border of North West and Limpopo, meaning they also service residents from those provinces.
By Saturday, 23 people had died of cholera. A total of 48 laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera were received at Jubilee District Hospital, the Gauteng health department said in an update on the outbreak in the Hammanskraal area. A total of 229 patients had been treated at the hospital, including 23 patients who have been transferred to other health facilities in Tshwane.
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