Pretoria - Relatives of a Muldersdrift man who died of gunshot wounds sustained during a robbery last week want to know why an operation which could have saved his life did not go ahead.
André Jordaan died at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital on Saturday night, where he was being treated after being shot seven times during a robbery on Thursday.
On Sunday, Gauteng’s Department of Health confirmed that some hospitals in the province are experiencing backlogs in surgery because of budgetary constraints and a shortage of staff.
Spokesman Simon Zwane said the department was doing its best to address the situation.
This follows the acknowledgement by the Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, in an interview with the Pretoria News, that public health facilities in the province are failing to deliver.
The Pretoria News had reported that patients were being turned away from Steve Biko Academic Hospital and operations postponed because of a lack of staff and working equipment.
One mother had to resort to approaching the courts to get attention for her son at the hospital so he could have excruciating pain in his leg alleviated.
Jordaan’s daughter-in-law Jeanine Jordaan said Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital had told them that his operation was scheduled for Friday.
However, he did not have the operation, and they were not told why it had changed.
Dr Nita Soma, senior clinical executive at Chris Hani Baragwanath, asked for time to consult the family, the doctors and nurses before commenting on the death.
Zwane also said he could not comment yet on the Jordaan case. “We’ll follow up to find out what happened” and should know on Monday.
Motsoaledi confirmed that hospitals in Gauteng were running out of essentials due to huge deficits in their budgets, and that efforts to rebuild the system could take time.
On Sunday, Zwane said the department was trying to ensure that all patients receive treatment when it is due.
“We engaged with the provincial Treasury in an effort to find more resources to be released to central hospitals. This will assist in addressing staff shortages, alleviating budgetary pressures and dealing with repair of equipment.”
Zwane said the department was also planning to train lower category nursing staff, such as staff nurses, to increase the number of personnel able to assist with the basic intensive care of patients.
“We are also looking at increasing the number of intensive care unit beds in the province,” he added.
The DA has claimed that patients in need of cleft palate operations could wait up to 10 years for surgery at Steve Biko Academic.
DA health spokesman Jack Bloom said that 1 629 patients were on a waiting list to have operations at the hospital.
Zwane said that Steve Biko hospital had performed 3 586 operations and Chris Hani Baragwanath 16 585 operations in January to July this year. Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital had performed 4 727 operations.
“The surgical operations conducted are evidently more than those postponed,” Zwane said.
Jordaan is the second person to have been killed during a robbery in Muldersdrift the past two weeks.
Naude said the murder was “so unnecessary” and that it was a difficult time for the family.
André “jumped in front of me and my sister-in-law to protect us”, said Jeanine, who was not injured in the shooting.
Only two out of the 27 smallholdings in the semi-rural community have not been affected by crime in the past two years.
A week before Jordaan was shot, 13-year-old Alyssa Botha was shot dead during a robbery.
Her father and sister were also shot during the robbery, but survived.
Five men were arrested in connection with the murder and robbery and were found to be in possession of a memory card belonging to Alyssa.
However, they were released without appearing in court after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the memory card was not sufficient evidence in charging the men with murder and armed robbery.
No more arrests had been made by on Sunday night, said police spokeswoman Colonel Katlego Mogale.
In June, Anne Biccard, a doctor living in the area, was shot in the chest and robbed.
A Muldersdrift resident said André’s family, friends and other residents planned to march to the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Initially, the idea was to protest against the release of the five men, but it has since changed to show support for the family, to demonstrate against the crime wave in the area and to call on police to tackle the crime problem.
Pretoria News