An urgent investigation has been launched by the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department after a video went viral on social media of two security guards assaulting a 13-year-old disabled boy in his bed at Ladysmith Hospital.
The guards had been dismissed immediately by the security company, according to the department, which has instituted an internal disciplinary process against the nursing staff implicated in the incident.
The assault took place on Thursday evening, reports News24, and was brought to the attention of hospital management on Friday.
The boy shown in the video was a resident of a place of shelter before being admitted to Ladysmith Hospital. He has since been moved to another healthcare facility in Durban.
The video shows him crying while one of the guards repeatedly beats him. The other guard starts hitting the teen as well. No nurses were seen checking up on the boy or stopping the security guards.
Departmental spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa expressed shock, saying the department was appalled, and that the matter had been reported to the police and to the Department of Social Development.
“A disciplinary process is under way – to process into where the nurses were when the incident took place, who was responsible for calling the security guards, and why the patient was assaulted.”
Click on the link below to access the video – which may offend sensitive viewers.
https://x.com/MDNnewss/status/1708075461933256852?s=20
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