The Christmas party had been planned two months ago. The youngsters came dressed in their best clothes. But before they could start their festivities, they had to sit in the blazing sun for three hours because the venue had been double-booked.
The doctors at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital's Perinatal HIV Research Unit see thousands of children each year. This year they wanted to give their patients an extra special Christmas party.
"We had booked the hospital's hall two months ago. But two weeks ago, we were told we had to cancel because Health MEC Brian Hlongwa was going to launch a vaccine there at the same time," said a doctor, who did not want to be named.
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"We were quite taken aback because we had booked the place and our preparations were on track. And of course we had told all the patients and their parents about the party - we couldn't just cancel."
The doctor said they were then told they could still have their party - but at 10am.
"So that's what we told all our children. And they all arrived at 10am sharp, but nearly three hours later the MEC was still busy. All our guests had to sit outside in the hot sun and wait for them to finish."
When the guests started to become impatient, the doctors confronted the government officials and an argument ensued.
"We just wanted to start our party. The kids were sitting on a field. They called us racists. How can we be racist when we've worked so hard getting sponsors and organising a party for 1 000 children? Most of them had probably never had a party," said the doctor.
Eventually the party did get started - but without Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree.
"They are having such a wonderful time now. You'd never say there was such chaos earlier. We've managed to feed everyone and later we'll dish out the presents," the doctor said.
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