Health officials give woman very poor treatment. Is it because she is a foreign national and cant take action against them?
19 May 2020
Ikemeleng/Rustenburg
Phindile Ngobeni
On 19 May 2020 I decided to visit one lady from Zimbabwe, we met at JST hospital when I went to give birth. We were in the same ward and she started telling me her story. I visited her at Ramochana where she rents a room, we had agreed that I will visit her to interview her as I introduced myself to her as a Benchmarks monitor writing stories about issues that are affecting us, she agreed with me and gave me her house number where she is renting.
She was born in Zimbabwe and came to South Africa for work, she was working as domestic worker in town before lockdown. She was 7 months pregnant and has been separated with baby father since she was 3 months, the guy ran away.
On the 16 March 2020 she was admitted at Rustenburg hospital as she has labour pain but because the baby was not in a good position foe her to give birth normally, she was taken to theatre for operation on the same day of 16 March.
She said the painful thing is that she lost her baby on the 16 March and the baby was sent to Moses Kotane hospital later the operation started to pain and when she called for help the doctor came and open the operation same day again without explaining to her what is wrong with her wound and they opened it twice.
She said with tears since 16 March till now the baby still at Moses kotane she don’t have R1700 to bury her child and the Job Shimankana Tabane Rustenburg Hospital nurse said they will have her arrested because she can’t afford money needed by Bafa Funeral Services.
She was discharged on 24 April 2020, she feels that the doctors failed her because she is from Zimbabwe and they know she can’t take any action against what they did to her. She said if anyone can help her with the case of the baby and the case of her operation she will highly appreciate because she is not satisfied about what the JST Rustenburg hospital doctors did to her.
She now attends clinic for cleaning wound at Kanana clinic every 3 days on the 15 May 2020 she went for check-up at JST hospital, she said she feel that the doctor was operating her are students that is why operation went wrong. She also said the white lady she was working for don’t want to help her, she asked for help but the lady said because she was not working she can’t help.
This is really hurting most African women face similar challenge especially in the clinics and hospitals. Yes we know that they are from outside country but a human being is a human being can’t we have mercy this story is really touching me. I spend a day with a lady when I came home I started crying because I didn’t want to cry in her presence. She sleeps with tears and wakes with tears thinking of her new-born baby that spends days and days at Moses kotane she is thinking of giving herself to the police.
