Johannesburg - The mother of the three-year-old child who died at prophet Paseka “Mboro” Motsoeneng’s church is steadfast in her battle for justice.
Nontombi Gwam, 42, made it clear on Wednesday she wanted a paramedic arrested. Her daughter Latoya died after being sick for two days.
Gwam took the ailing child to Motsoeneng for prayers during a church service more than a week ago after allegedly being failed by the Daveyton Main Clinic. Nurses allegedly told her the clinic had no intravenous drips, which Latoya needed.
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The Ekurhuleni Emergency Management Services (EMS) were called to the church as her condition worsened.
Gwam and Motsoeneng maintained the paramedics failed to attend to the child.
The pair opened cases of culpable homicide and assault against a paramedic they allege was negligent.
The assault charge was because the paramedic allegedly broke Gwam’s leg by hitting it with an oxygen cylinder. She was bandaged and limping on Wednesday.
“The baby died because of the negligence of the EMS female paramedic,” Gwam said at her home in Daveyton.
“The female paramedic wasted a lot of time arguing with me and prophet Mboro and picking fights with the church people instead of attending to the sick child.
“(She) threw the oxygen cylinder on the stretcher, narrowly missing the sick child and it hit me on my leg. I have a fractured leg due to that assault.
“I laid a case of culpable homicide and assault against the paramedic, but so far I only have received the (case) number.
“The paramedic has not been arrested. I was failed by the paramedics and the SAPS.”
Prophet Paseka Motsoeneng, left, and Cathy Breytenbach, right, assist Nontombi Gwam, whose daughter, Latoya, died at Mboro’s church. Picture: Sibongile Mashaba/ANA
Said Motsoeneng: “The female paramedic is still carrying on with her job. She’s not arrested. She’s not reprimanded. She’s continuing to kill other people.”
He decried that the paramedic has not been charged, while he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her after she opened a case against him.
“Everybody else is talking of Mboro. At least I was charged and I’m out on bail. Some people were smart to open a case to cover up their crime. Do I regret being charged? No.
“As a prophet that’s the price you pay. You’re standing for the poorest of the poor, those who have no defence.”
Captain Lesetja Mathobela denied the police had failed the Gwam family. He said Latoya’s death was still being probed. “We’ve opened an inquest.”
William Ntladi, spokesperson for Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services, said the metro had instituted an investigation into the incident in a bid to ensure “corrective action can be taken in addressing the matter”.
The metro asked that community members remain calm and allow the law to take its course, said Ntladi. “The city views this matter seriously and is working with law enforcement in unravelling it.”
Gwam said she took her daughter to a private doctor, where she paid R900. “I find it strange some people accuse me of not taking my child to a doctor.”