PICS: Healthcare workers robbed, held hostage and attacked in violent protests in KZN
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has strongly condemned the recent attacks against mobile healthcare workers and the destruction of three vehicles across the province.
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has strongly condemned the recent attacks against mobile healthcare workers and the destruction of three vehicles across the province.
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It is alleged that the team was on their way to various health clinics when they were forced off the road by gunmen in a Toyota Quantum.
According to the Department of Health, a nurse had to pay her last R300 to the men after they put a tyre around a male colleague’s neck and threatened to douse him with petrol, and set him alight.
The assailants demanded to know why the staff were working while they (the attackers) were unemployed.
“The men set alight one of the vehicles, and completely smashed the windows of two others. The highly-traumatised staff members have had to receive counselling,” the department said in a media statement.
In another incident, a health inspector en route to the Monyane Clinic in Nkandla was abducted and held hostage by angry protesters about 500 metres from the clinic.
“He and three female colleagues were blocked and forcibly removed from the vehicle, which was then extensively damaged. The man was subsequently freed after about three hours,” the department said.
In a third incident, staffers at the Cato Manor Community Health Centre were treated for inhalation after police used teargas to disperse protesters along Mary Thiphe Road in Cato Crest.
“Some staff members as well as healthcare users had to receive medical treatment for teargas inhalation, while others were forced to leave to stop working during the fracas, which caused a lot of panic,” the department stated.
Provincial MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane, said the incidents were shocking.
“Some staff members as well as healthcare users had to receive medical treatment for teargas inhalation while others were forced to leave to stop working during the fracas, which caused a lot of panic.
“Replacing these vehicles and repairing damaged buildings could mean we’re unable to pay staff, buy medication, health technology equipment, or do routine maintenance work,” expressed Simelane.
She strongly condemned the attacks.
“No matter how genuine you believe your cause to be, such reprehensible conduct can never be justified,” she said.
Simelane said these incidents were a serious setback to the department’s gallant efforts to make healthcare accessible to everyone, including those in the rural areas.
“No one will ever know the full effects of these attacks on the psyche of the staff who were affected. And destroying vehicles and property takes a serious toll on us due to the fact that our resources are scarce,” she said.
Simelane appealed to communities not to attack healthcare workers, or destroy public property, because it deprives communities of much-needed healthcare services and resources that are meant to assist them.
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