Durban – The KZN health MEC has lashed out at a patient who has been using social media to “expose” the treatment he received at a public hospital, saying the man was an ungrateful racist.
In a statement on Thursday, MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo “strongly criticised” Riaan van der Westhuizen, 31, who was admitted to RK Khan Hospital after being stabbed.
On Wednesday, Dhlomo visited the Chatsworth hospital where he was briefed by management and checked Van der Westhuizen’s medical record.
“To his shock, the MEC found that none of the patient’s claims were true. Instead, Dhlomo was informed by hospital staff that the patient had displayed a racist attitude.”
Dhlomo said Van der Westhuizen was “extremely ungrateful” and said that he did not want to be treated by black nurses.
“He’s either in the wrong country or wrong hospital He’s free to choose the hospital that’s going to treat him as a white man, and get a white nurse, or a white doctor to look after him. We don’t have that luxury in this hospital.”
Van der Westhuizen, according to media reports, alleged he was left unattended in the casualty ward unit before his heart stopped.
Only when his wife started CPR did her frantic screams gain the attention of medical staff, who rushed him into theatre.
Speaking to The Mercury from his hospital bed on Thursday, Van der Westhuizen said media calls were the first he’d heard of the MEC’s visit. He had not been told, nor had Dhlomo come to see him.
About the accusation of racism, he said it was a “blatant lie” which made him “extremely upset.”
“I’ve been here for 22 days being treated by black nurses all along, why would I suddenly become racist? This is actually defamation.”
DA health spokesperson Dr Imran Keeka said Dhlomo should have shown more “care and compassion” and the “decency” to sit down with Van der Westhuizen.
It was unfortunate Dhlomo had personalised the issue, said Dr Louis Reynold, a member of the steering committee of the Public Health Movement, an international organisation which advocates the right to health care.
“For the person politically accountable for the health system in the province to go on the attack without actually seeing the patient and talking to him is uncalled for.”
He said it was not uncommon for health professionals to protect each other where there was negligence.
Looking at the medical report and speaking to the managers was lazy.
Van der Westhuizen said he just wanted to have his arm heal properly and not risk losing it, which is why he was “making so much noise”.