Dead patient’s family wants answers

By Libuseng Nyaka

QWAQWA – The Devastated family of Dibakiso Suzan Tshabalala (58), who died at Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli hospital on July 2, 2024, allegedly due to power cuts, have slammed the government for lack of empathy when announcing her death.

The deceased is alleged to have died while in the ICU for treatment of diabetes after electricity outage that lasted three days.
The son of the deceased, Dumisane Tshabalala, says his mother’s death has affected the family negatively, exacerbated by the manner in which her death was communicated to them by department of health which left them with more questions than answers.

“There are many questions that need to be answered by the department of health or Mofumahadi Manapo hospital. There is a lot of information pertaining to our mother’s death which we have only learnt of from social media and other community leaders. We are unable to find answers. When announcing the death of our mother, the hospital showed lack of empathy; they just told us our mother has passed away and we must fetch her corpse after two days.

When we arrived at the hospital on Tuesday to collect our mother’s body at 11 am, we were told to wait until 13hrs for a doctor who was busy with other surgeries, to fill out and sign forms. While still there at the hospital we received a call from hospital management telling us that they at our house. We were confused because we were at the facility; it left us perplexed that they decided to leave us unattended and go to our home to pass their condolences when they were supposed to assist us.

Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae.

“It is behaviour like this which raised more suspicions and questions. In what capacity did they be obliged to go and pass condolences? There are many patients that have passed at the hospital but they never visited their families to pay condolences.”

Following this incident, Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae visited Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality where she engaged with the leadership on the matter.
Letsoha-Mathae told the media that the case of a patient who died at Manapo hospital is still under investigation to establish the exact cause of her death.

“Any death is worth investigation; therefore we are waiting for the outcome of those investigations. It is an unfortunate situation that is why we are here to meet the municipality to find out what challenges the municipality faces so that we can intervene. Indeed the reason we are here is one of those and even the outcry of communities at large.

In terms of intervention, the Premier promised to bring the minster of electricity Dr Seputla Kgosientso immediately after the SONA which is expected to held on July 18, 2024.