Load-shedding hospital deaths

Load-shedding has claimed the lives of two patients at a Limpopo hospital. A witness told claimed that the two patients died yesterday while they were in the intensive care unit at Letaba Hospital near Tzaneen.

He said the patients died after a generator failed to start when the power went off. The generator had apparently run out of diesel. Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba confirmed that a generator ran out of diesel after load shedding at the hospital at 7pm. She, however, said only one person died and denied that the death was as a result of load-shedding. The MEC said the generator had run out of diesel and the hospital was left in the dark. She said the generator had worked for only three hours during the power outage that night. The witness and the DA in Limpopo were adamant that two patients had died as a result of load-shedding. The source said power was restored later in the day when hospital officials replenished the diesel. Ramathuba said she was disappointed that the generator had run out of diesel and was scathing of hospital chief executive Timothy Matodzi.

DA MPL Langa Bodlani said Ramathuba should ensure all implicated hospital officials, including the chief executive, were held accountable for the two deaths. He said the DA calls for the department to be held criminally liable.

It is a crime against humanity and the DA will keep a close eye to ensure all negligent parties are brought to book. Bodlani said the DA also established that an unfuelled and/or faulty generator is a recurring problem at this hospital as this is the fifth time the same problem occurred. Provincial health department spokesman Macks Lesufi said last night the police could not open a case because "the patient had acute diabetes and was not killed by anyone". Ramathuba said she had dispatched officials to the hospital to investigate the matter and she expected a preliminary report today.