Cape Town – The distraught family of Zuziwe Mvinjana, 58, are demanding answers after her body was discovered at Macassar Beach. A jogger alerted police to the discovery on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Mihlali Majikela said a post-mortem would be conducted to determine the cause of death and an inquest was registered for investigation.
Mvinjana, from Makhaza, was last seen alive by her son-in-law, Sandiso Matodlana, on Monday while wearing an oxygen mask at Khayelitsha Hospital, apparently waiting to be admitted after suspecting she had contracted
Covid-19.
Matodlana said the family called for an investigation by the hospital and for those behind her death to be held accountable.
“Initially, Ma was supposed to be taken to hospital for a Covid-19 test by her son, Sithembiso, because she noticed some symptoms.
"When Sithembiso arrived home to fetch her she was not in the house and unavailable on the phone. I took another family member and we went to the hospital but were refused entry.
“We called a police officer we knew and informed him about our concerns. He was allowed in at the hospital with the family member while I waited outside.
"Ma was not found in the system and the staff couldn’t recall her name. They called and updated me and I left to open a missing person case in Harare,” said Matodlana.
In the process of reporting her missing, Matodlana received a call informing him Mvinjana was found in the hospital.
The distraught family of Zuziwe Mvinjana, 58, are demanding answers after she was discovered at Macassar beach near Cape Town. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
“A hospital security guard who goes to the same church with Ma saw a woman who looked familiar sitting on a chair with an oxygen mask and alerted the officer and the family member.
"When they called her name and surname to confirm if it was really her she nodded her head. This was because the mask made it difficult for her to speak. They left her there overnight because they were told she would be admitted.”
Matodlana said they were shocked when detectives arrived at their home with a picture which showed Mvinjana’s face full of blood and
sand.
“Her face looked like she was bludgeoned and she was wearing the hospital gown. We want answers because the last time our family saw her, was not at a beach.
"What has even left us more puzzled is her bag with her phone and everything else was found. So this can’t be a robbery,” he
said.
Provincial Health Department’s Klipfontein and Mitchells Plain substructure spokesperson Monique Johnstone said: “The hospital does not have any manual or electronic record of the patient being treated at the hospital.
“If a patient leaves the hospital before being admitted on the system, the person would appear on the triage register where all of our patients details are recorded manually on arrival. The hospital does not turn away patients seeking health care.
“During Covid-19, our patients are first screened and triaged accordingly before entering the main hospital, therefore a record would have been kept of the patient at the Covid-19 triage and testing tent.”
Meanwhile, provincial police commissioner Yolisa Matakata has initiated a disciplinary investigation after a 26-year-old woman from Khayelitsha was allegedly raped in the area on Monday and advised by a Site B police station officer to leave and come back the next day.
Matakata said on Tuesday a senior police official visited the victim’s home and a rape case was subsequently opened. The perpetrator has yet to be arrested.
“I cannot wait to see the disciplinary investigation finalised. Not only is it embarrassing to know that a victim of a crime left a police station without being assisted, the claims of what happened smack of dereliction of duty on the part of police. The unfortunate incident happens when the country is battling an alarming rate of incidence of gender-based violence,” she said.
In an unrelated incident, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate is investigating the death of a suspect, 39, who was arrested after his girlfriend was found beaten to death.