Johannesburg — Health Minister Joe Phaahla has slammed the staff and management at the Motherwell Clinic in the Eastern Cape who failed to treat a 15-year old girl after she was raped.
After the victim, Zenizole Vena, was raped, she headed to the clinic where staff told her to go to the police station to report what had happened.
She passed away while at the police station., eNCA reported.
“This is utterly unacceptable for health professionals adjudged with the responsibility to attend to people in desperate situations. I don’t think there’s any excuse for the attitude which comes out in the report to say they are afraid to touch the patient because they were scared to tamper with the evidence. That is totally unacceptable and is incumbent on the persons who have taken an oath on their profession,” Phaala said.
An investigation into the Motherwell Clinic in the Eastern Cape has found that the death of a 15-year-old rape victim, Zenizole Vena in 2022, was due to the negligence of nurses at the facility.#HealthOmbud NM
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— CapricornFM News (@CapricornFMNews) December 12, 2023
As reported by IOL, Health Ombudsman, Professor Taole Mokoena released the findings of the investigation in Pretoria on Tuesday. Mokoena said the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions had permitted the report to be released, as it would not impede on the criminal investigation.
The probe of the incident was to find out whether or not Vena had died as a result of neglect, whether she was denied care at the clinic as alleged, or whether he clinic staff failed to refer her to the next level of care.
She sought assistance at the Motherwell NU 11 Clinic at 7am after the incident on September 21, 2022, but was told by nurses they “do not touch the rape victims to avoid tampering with evidence,” and she was referred to the police.
Vena and her friend walked two kilometres to the police station where Vena passed out en-route. The two were picked up by a taxi and dropped at the police station.
They arrived at the police station at 8am and a police sergeant said she went to check on Vena at 9.30am, who had been at the laying on the charge office floor and she was no longer crying. The sergeant realised she had died.
According to the District Manager of Nelson Mandela Bay District (NMBDH), Ms Sonia Lupondwana, there was no doctor at Motherwell NU 11 Clinic on the day Vena came.
This explanation is not accepted because the absence of doctors does not absolve the nurses from providing the necessary care to the patients,” the report stated.
Further discrepancies in the report showed that the incident occurred on 22 September 2022, as opposed to 22 September 2022, which was later described as a typing error.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said he and the Eastern Cape Health Department welcomed the report and recommendations made by the ombudsman.
He also said the provincial health department has already been requested to institute a departmental disciplinary process to ensure those responsible receive appropriate sanctions.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
