The family of the 35-year-old woman who died when a fire broke out at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, north of Pretoria, want an explanation from the staff.
Lerato Mohlamme, from Makau, Ga-Rankuwa, was admitted to the hospital on Thursday last week.
On Monday evening a fire broke out in the female psychiatric unit. Seventeen patients in the unit were evacuated and temporarily relocated to a different wing but she died in the seclusion room in which she had been contained as part of her treatment.
She was treated like a dog that doesn't belong anywhere
— Pinky Mohlamme, mother of Lerato Mohlamme
“We are saddened by what happened. We want answers. We want to know from the hospital management, what was the cause of the fire? Was she under the supervision of anyone? In these cases she must be supervised all the time, there must be security, nurses and everyone,” her mother Pinky Mohlamme told TimesLIVE.
“I think it's negligence by the hospital because it can't be correct that our daughter was locked in the isolation ward.
“When the fire started it seemed she was trying to walk out of the room but it was locked. When the forensic people arrived and wanted to remove her from the isolation room, they could not get [immediate] access because it was locked. They used a spanner to break the chains.
“It is disturbing, it can't be correct that she was treated [that way], irrespective of her condition. She was treated like a dog that doesn't belong anywhere,” she said.
The family will ask questions when they meet hospital staff on Wednesday.
Mohlamme said her daughter complained and begged her to take her home the last time she visited her, on Monday.
“She said, 'Mama, please, I am not comfortable in the hospital, these people are not treating me well. Because of my condition they are taking advantage of me, they are not treating me well. Please take me home,'” Mohlamme said.
However, she had assured her daughter she was in safe hands.
“What I said to her is she is in good care [at] the facility, they will take good care of her, they will give her medication and she must make sure she complies with what they give her, to drink her medication.
“We knew she would be fine [after treatment]. What happened was not because of her condition; it was because of the fire.
I will miss her smile and her jokes
— Pinky Mohlamme
“I regret not removing her from that hospital and taking her to another.”
Asked for comment, the hospital told TimesLIVE: "The matter is still under investigation. The department and hospital position is still the same as in the statement [issued by Gauteng health]."
Hospital CEO Dr Fhatuwani Mbara and Dr Sipho Senabe, chief director of occupational health and safety, previously told Newzroom Afrika the patient had been sectioned after showing signs of being mentally unstable and demonstrating aggressive tendencies. This was standard practice in these situations, they said.
It was her third admission for treatment, after previous interventions in November and February.
An investigation into the fire will be expedited and police have opened a culpable homicide inquiry, Mbara said.
Lerato left behind two children: a five-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son.
“They are not coping, they are still very young,” Mohlamme said.
“I will miss her smile and her jokes. She was very humble. She was never angry. You may ask the neighbours, family and friends, she has never been angry with anyone.
“Every time we met as a family, she would make jokes and everyone would laugh. We will miss her a lot.”
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