A brutal robbery at a rural clinic in which a security guard died in a hail of bullets has enraged nursing unions in the Eastern Cape, who are demanding improved safety measures for staff, and want the Health Department to be held accountable.
Dakhile Ngobe, from Tyeks Security Services, was shot and killed at Maqanyeni Clinic in Ngqeleni, near Mthatha, on Friday night when four men attacked him and his female colleague. His colleague was not injured, reports News24.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Captain Welile Matyolo said the gang had demanded entry to the clinic, and when Ngobe refused, they opened fire.
“They stole five computers and vanished. No one has been arrested yet,” he said.
Sivuyile Mange, chair of the Eastern Cape branch of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), said the Department of Health needed to be held accountable for failing to ensure the safety of staff, and that health facilities are “designated as gun-free zones”.
“Safety and security is a major concern … nurses are getting assaulted, raped and mugged, and no longer feel safe in rural public healthcare facilities, where it’s easy for criminals to enter and do as they please. The security officers are armed only with batons and there’s no armed response available.”
United Nurses Trade Union of South Africa’s Eastern Cape chairperson Linamandla Malindi condemned the incident.
“Companies contracted by the department need to equip their security guards with proper equipment… but it is the responsibility of the department to protect its employees and assets.
“Nurses are under siege, especially in rural areas.”
Eastern Cape Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth urged the police to find and arrest the killers, and said communities should also work with authorities to ensure they were arrested.
Mange said they had escalated the issue of criminal incidents at public healthcare facilities to the bargaining chamber so that the employer could be held accountable in ensuring the safety of staff in the province.
“Some facilities have no perimeter fencing, some have only one guard. It remains the responsibility of the employer to ensure employees are safe.”
In February, a nurse and a security guard were tied up for several hours during a robbery at a clinic in Zigodlo near Qonce, also in the Eastern Cape.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Robbers lock nurse, guard in clinic dispensary overnight
Union highlights ‘dismal’ security at Eastern Cape hospitals
Nurses union threatens legal action over security concerns