KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has warned the public not to use hospitals as political playgrounds, after a group from a local community demonstrated outside Thulasizwe Hospital, a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment facility in Ulundi, last week.
The hospital was originally built by missionaries who used clay building blocks, making it unsafe and without scope for development. The department plans to reconfigure the old and dilapidated building into a primary healthcare clinic for the community.
“We are aware there is a hidden political hand with personal interests that is inciting the community and orchestrating public unrest, which is extremely unfortunate,” Simelane said, adding that “hospitals are not playgrounds but sacred spaces dealing with critical matters of life and death”, and should not be subjected to undue political interference.
TimesLIVE reports that over the years, patient numbers have declined, attributed by the department to low TB-infection numbers in the area, as well as improved and decentralised treatment approaches that do not require patient admissions. Patients can also seek treatment at nearby Ceza Hospital.
Simelane said the consultative process relating to the rebuild of the facility, which included meeting local and traditional leadership, the hospital board, organised labour, other stakeholders and community members, had been finalised.
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