Rustenburg – Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba used the wrong platform to address the frustrations of her department, the Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union said on Thursday.
The union was responding to Dr Ramathuba’s comment in a video clip that undocumented migrants were causing a huge strain on the Limpopo health system.
In the video, Ramathuba told a patient at the Bela-Bela Hospital that she would not be discharged until she settled her bill.
“Sissy (sister) you won’t be discharged before you settle your …” Ramathuba said in the video.
The president of the Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union, Rich Sicina, said it was unethical for Ramathuba to address a patient in that manner.
“We condemned that behaviour of comrade Phophi Ramathuba. We are not against what she uttered there, everything she said is correct in as far as overpopulation of our health-care facilities and the discord in our health-care facilities in the public sector in particular it is correct.
“But the manner she conducted herself … was not correct because we are a union and we have represented nurses who were charged by the same system for doing exactly the same thing that Ramathuba did,” Sicina said.
He said what Ramathuba said was correct but she used the wrong platform to say it.
He said health facilities, particularly in Limpopo, were overwhelmed, to the extent that in a 35-bed hospital 15 patients were undocumented foreign nationals.
“We do nurse them, and we talk to them ….”
He said some foreign nationals told them that they came to South Africa because the health care was free.
He said one woman travelled from Zimbabwe for her child to be treated for a fractured arm because she did not have money to pay for her child to receive treatment there.
He said Ramathuba was supposed to raise her concerns at the ANC conference, because it was where they were supposed to address issues of the Constitution.
“Section 27 of our Constitution allows everyone who lives in South Africa, regardless of nationality, colour and race, it does not matter as long as you live in South Africa you have a right to access the health-care system and if you do not have money you still have a right to access that particular health system.”
In Pretoria, IOL spoke to a sample of foreign and locals who rely on the public health system.
The foreign nationals said they were seldom charged for medical services, while locals complained of long queues at health-care facilities.
Siphiwe Katwai, of Zambia, has been in South Africa since 2005.
She first came to the country with her husband and their son to do missionary work. In 2008, she fell pregnant and gave birth to her daughter at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital.
“I have never encountered any hostility, I mean even now I don't have a problem using public health facilities, but also the dynamics then and now have changed.
“There’s a lot of hostility towards outsiders, but for me personally, I haven't received any harsh treatment, everybody was nice,” she said.
Katwai said she was not charged anything, but because she is a taxpayer, she concluded that she was charged through her tax.
Judith Mensah, originally from Ghana, has been in South Africa since 2014. She rents a shack in Soshanguve, where she works as a hairdresser.
Mensah fell pregnant in 2016 and gave birth the following year at the Odi Community Hospital.
Like Katwai, she said she was not charged for her stay at the hospital.
“I don't recall receiving bad treatment, plus I didn't stay there for too long. I was discharged within three days.”
In 2020, she suffered a mental breakdown.
“I was at the hospital for two months, it was a very difficult period, I don’t have a lot of recollection of what transpired during that time. My mental state was in shambles. I was in a psychiatric ward.”
Mensah said her bill came to over R20 000, but she didn't pay because she told the hospital that she was unemployed.
“If I had the means of settling the bill I would have, they really helped me because even after getting discharged, I used to go there to get my treatment and they would give me my pills without any problem.”
Sydney Chawe*, also originally from Ghana, runs his own business as a tailor in Soshanguve.
He arrived in the capital before 2010 and in about 2014, he became seriously ill and spent three months in hospital because of HIV complications.
“I was sick, the hospital took care of me for almost three months,” he said.
When asked how he was treated, Chawe said he was treated like everyone else and even befriended some of the nurses.
He said he doesn't remember how much the bill was but it was a lot.
He agreed to pay R380 monthly, but said he was unable to pay it because it took him a while to return to work after being discharged.
“I am a tailor, I don't make much money, I only make enough to survive. Sometimes I can't even afford to pay rent. I appreciate the hospital for restoring my health but I can't afford to pay them.”
Chawe still collects his medication at the local clinic.
Edith Phetla* is a South African from Soshanguve. The elderly woman has been on chronic medication since 2015.
“I started taking high blood pressure medication at a very young age, so I would drink the pills and when I felt better, I would stop.
“So in 2021, I had not taken my medication for almost six months or more, I fainted and I was rushed to the clinic.
“The nurses then referred me to George Mukhari (hospital). The hospital discovered that my cholesterol is very high, so they decided it's best I come for my regular check-ups there until I’m stable enough to go back to the clinic.”
Phetla said she was not happy with the hospital service because just to get medication, she had to queue for over five hours.
“The doctors are fast, especially if you have an appointment, but the people dispensing the medication are very slow and their treatment is not good.
“When you try to tell them that the queue is moving slow, they will tell you that you are not the only one they are assisting and you should wait for your turn,” she said.
*Not their real names.
IOL