Social worker's compassion restores dignity to destitute man in Cape Town

A social worker at Groote Schuur Hospital has shared how he saved the dignity of a man who visited Cape Town to find his long-lost sister after two decades but discovered she had died and was robbed and left destitute.

Thanks to Precious Kopane, Social Worker in the Trauma and Emergency Units, his story had ended when he was lucky enough to be placed back onto a bus back to his home in Johannesburg. 

Kopane had purchased his bus ticket when he heard of his tragic and horrific encounter of being robbed of his belongings after finding out that his sister had died.

Kopane has been working at Groote Schuur Hospital for the past 20 years and has worked in the Orthopaedic Unit before moving to Trauma and Emergency. “I deal with patients who have all types of injuries and issues, ranging from psychiatric conditions, gunshot and stab wounds, car accidents, broken bones, and many other things,” Kopane explained, and shared his story via Heroes of Groote Schuur.

“My role is to interview them and help them get discharged. I often have to help locate their families so that they have someone to assist them when they leave the hospital. When a patient is ready to be discharged, but no one can take care of them at home, we'll send them to Step-Down Facilities.

“If a patient has nowhere to return to, we will work with the Department of Social Development to place them in a homeless shelter. The shelter continues trying to locate the person’s family and help integrate them out of street life.”

He said he had cases where patients who have experienced gender-based violence (GBV), which can become challenging when they do not want to be helped. “Some patients might not want any intervention because they are used to it; they deny they are being abused or blame themselves for causing certain behaviour,” he added.

“Other times, even if they do understand you, they will ask, ‘Who is going to feed me, or who will feed my children?’ It sometimes means you are fighting a losing battle.

“The best thing to do when this happens is educate a patient about her rights. For example, you can advise them that they can get a protection order that will only result in action being taken if they are abused again."

But he has also had positive outcomes when he could help the destitute patient. “We recently had a case where a man came from Johannesburg to see his sister he hadn't seen in 20 years. But when he arrived here, he discovered she had sadly passed away,” he said.

“He was then robbed and had nowhere to go in Cape Town. Via the Groote Schuur Hospital Trust, I helped organise bus fare to get him back to Joburg.

“If we had just left him here, he would’ve been homeless. So I was happy to send him back to a familiar place where he has friends and family that can help him.” 

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