Johannesburg - The family of the woman who died after a generator ran out of diesel at Letaba Hospital plan to sue the Limpopo Health Department.
Faith Malatjie, 40, died on Thursday after a blackout at the hospital. Her death has incensed Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who said on Monday it was unacceptable that the generator ran out of diesel as the hospital chief executives were informed last year to ensure they had enough diesel.
Provincial health authorities have said Malatjie died of diabetes complications while she was being transferred from a ward to the intensive care unit.
But her uncle Philemon Malatjie insisted on Monday that she was on life-support machines and died after power cuts in the ICU as a result of load shedding.
He said her nephew was admitted to Letaba Hospital earlier this month for cerebral haemorrhage treatment.
On Monday, Philemon told a media briefing in Polokwane that the family were seeking legal opinion over her death.
“We are intending to get a legal adviser. Remember we don’t have access to the notes written by the doctor and nurses,” he said, adding that the family wanted to know the truth so they could get closure.
Asked if the aim of seeking legal opinion included suing the Health Department, Philemon said: “If we find there was negligence on the part of the department, yes we will definitely do that.”
The national Health Ministry contradicted the provincial department, stating that the hospital lost power because of a faulty circuit breaker.
Motsoaledi visited the hospital
on Friday. On Sunday, he said a committee would be set up to investigate the matter.
The minister said the director-general of the national Department of Health, Malebona Matsoso, had written to all heads of provincial departments in December, instructing them to ensure they have enough diesel at all times.
Motsoaledi added that he had subsequently personally written to all heads of department in January to emphasise the importance of stocking enough diesel.
“Last month, the head of technical services and engineering wrote another letter to all the provinces reiterating the importance of stocking enough diesel in state hospitals.
“In Limpopo, the head of department wrote a letter to all chief executives about the same thing,” Motsoaledi said.
He said that if the chief executive of Letaba Hospital, Timothy Matodzi, had stocked enough diesel, the generator could have run for six days uninterrupted. “The man refused to manage, from my point of view,” Motsoaledi said.
“It’s like taking a horse to the river and forcing it to drink. If it doesn’t want to open its mouth, what can you do? He’s refusing to manage.”
DA provincial chairman and MPL Langa Bodlani promised the party would help the family with legal support. He also insisted that two patients died on Thursday when the generator ran out of diesel.
The Star