Johannesburg – A South African doctor, who was trained in Cuba, and a student nurse died in separate incidents at the weekend in KwaZulu-Natal.
"The doctor, who worked at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital (PMMH), had been out at Umlazi with his friends. However, when he got back to his room he became distressed and he was brought by friends to casualty at PMMH. Sadly he was certified dead on arrival," the department of health in KZN said on Monday.
It was not immediately known what the cause of death was.
Department spokesperson Desmond Motha said that added to the death of the doctor, in a separate incident, a male student nurse took his own life by jumping from the sixth floor. It was initially reported by the department that it was the 16th floor. Motha said that the nurse was declared dead at the scene.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said: "We are always very saddened when we lose our staff members. It is even worse when we lose our clinical cadres as this sets back our quest to provide universal access to health care for people in every corner of the province."
Dhlomo said in this instance, the province had lost a doctor whose contribution was invaluable. On the other hand, it was also sad to lose a student nurse from whom so much was still expected by his family, the department and community at large.